- 



y 



CENTENNIAL ADDRESS, 



DELIVERED AT 



TRENTON, N. Y, 

July 4, 1876, 



JOHN F. SEYMOUR, 

WITH LETTERS FROM 

FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP, 

Written in 1792, 

AND OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE FIRST SET- 
TLEMENT OF TRENTON AND CENTRAL NEW YORK. 



UTICA, N. Y. 

White & Floyd, Book and Job Printers, cor. Broad and John Streets. 

1877. 



*rx ^,v ~ v \^.x ^^ ^ 



i- 1 %<j 



*0? 



Trenton, July 31st, 1876. 
To John F. Seymour, Esq. 

Dear Sir— In behalf of the ladies of Trenton, who invited you 
to give the Centennial Address on the Fourth of July, we re- 
.spectfully request that you will grant us the pleasure of having 
this address in a more permanent form ; believing as we do, that 
its facts and incidents and reflections are worthy of perpetual 
preservation among the people of Trenton. 

We are, dear sir, very truly yours, 

Wm. Silsbee, 
G. Prichard, 
Wm. H. Comstook. 

L. GUITEAU. 



To the Rev. William Silsbee, Mr. G. Prichard, Wm. H. Com- 
, stock, Esq. and Dr. Luther Guiteau. 

Gentlemen — Pursuant to your request. I send you my Centen- 
nial Address. You will find with it and as a part of it, a letter 
from John Adams, under date of March 4th, 1804, and a letter 
from Hibernicus, under date of 1820, and also some incidents 
additional to those given on the 4th of July. Appended to the 
address is a copy of Judge Van der Kemp's narrative, under date 
of 1792, of his journey on horseback from Kingston to Albany, and 
thence up the Mohawk Valley to Fort Stanwix, and by canoe 
and batteau through Oneida Lake to Lake Ontario. This narra- 
tive is in the form of letters to Col. Mappa, and it is to the first 
of these letters that DeWitt Clinton refers when he writes " Your 
letter to Col. Mappa, on the canal, written in 1792, is really a 
curiosity. It gives you the original invention of the Erie route, 
and I shall lay it by as a subject of momentous reference on some 
future occasion." 

The other letters in this narrative will be found still more in- 
teresting, and from them we learn that the romance of the 
"Frenchman's Island" in Oneida Lake is not a myth, as is gen- 
erally supposed, but a reality, which Judge Van der Kemp de- 
scribes with something of the charm of Paul and Virginia. 
Although the size of this appendix makes my address seem like a 
mere " rill of matter," yet I consider Judge Van der Kemp's nar- 
rative of so much greater interest, that I would rather omit the 
address than the appendix. 

Very truly yours, 

John F. Seymour. 

Utica, N. Y. 



TRENTON 
CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 



The association of my parents with the Mappas, the 
Van der Kemps, the Billings, the Douglasses, the Guit- 
eaus, the Shermans and other early settlers of Trenton, 
together with my own acquaintance with so many of 
your citizens, made doubly attractive your invitation to 
unite with you in the observance of this centennial. 

The suggestion of the President of the United States 
that on this day reference be made to the early historj^ 
of each locality, is in accordance with the thoughts of 
every one, and in no place do such thoughts come more 
spontaneously than in this town, noted for its culture 
and refinement. 

To appreciate the difficulties and dangers encountered 
by the first inhabitants, it must be remembered that in 
their day not only was this country covered with a 
dense forest, but that it was peopled by the most war- 
like of the Indian tribes. Bryant, in his history of the 
United States, says that in 1645, when a general peace 
was concluded with the hostile tribes, although sixteen 
undred of the savages had been killed, there was not 



6 

a single Dutch settlement, except that at Rensselaer- 
wyck and the military post on South river,* that had not 
been attacked and generally destroyed ; and that, be- 
sides a few traders, there were left upon Manhattan 
Island scarcely an hundred people, and throughout the 
whole province not more than three hundred men capa- 
ble of bearing arms could have been mustered. 

In 1663, all that part of the State west of Schenec- 
tady, was called Terra Incognita ; and though nominally 
governed by the Dutch, was really under the domin- 
ion and terror of the Indian. 

In 1775, almost a century later, on an official map 
was printed in large capitals over this part of the coun- 
try the word " Iroquois," the name of the six nations of 
Indians. 

In 1792, Judge Van der Kemp states that during a 
journey on horseback, he found 200 Oneida Indians at 
Whitestown, and on his arrival at Oneida Lake met 
Chief Justice Lansing of the Supreme Court, and the 
Attorney General of the State.t camping out on their 
way to court. 

The best illustrations of the dependence of our early 
settlers upon the good will of the Indians, not only for 
comfort in life, but also for life itself, are to be found in 
two lectures delivered by Mr. William Tracy, in 1838, in 
which he narrates two incidents, from one of which it 
appears, that as late as between 1785 and 1790, Hugh 

* Delaware River, f Morgan Lewis. 



White did not dare to deny to a dreaded Indian chief a 
request to take his little grandchild out of its mother's 
arms to his wigwam, four miles distant, to keep over 
night. 

The other narrative is still more extraordinary, show- 
ing that as hite as 1788, eighteen chiefs of the Oneida 
tribe of Indians, met in solemn council and coolly delib- 
erated whether or no they should put to death James 
Dean, a missionary of much note, as an atonement for 
the murder of one of their tribe, of Avhich murder it was 
not pretended Mr. Dean had any knowledge whatever, 
but only that he was of such distinction that he would 
make a good sacrifice. And this same council con- 
demned him to death without deigning to ask leave 
of the white men of the State of New "York, or 
of the United States, or of any of their officers, 
and actually proceeded to his house in a body in the 
dead of the night, and argued with him the propriety 
of their course ; and without a suspicion that they were 
amenable to the laws of this State, were proceeding to 
execute their sentence of death, when the wives of 
three of the chiefs of the council suddenly appeared and 
saved his life in a manner which equalled if it did not 
surpass the bravery of Pocahontas.* 

In 1758, a fort named Schuyler, after Peter Schuyler, 
was built where Utica now stands, to protect a fording 

*Asit it now difficult to find these interesting- and valuable lectures of 
Mr. Tracy, I have caused the above mentioned narratives to be copied and 
inserted in the Appendix to this address. 



8 

place of the Mohawk river, not far from where the 
bridge at the foot of Genesee street is now located ;, and 
according to an article on Utica in the Edinburgh En- 
cyclopedia, written by the late James Watson Williams, 
this fort was the " scene of several skirmishes between 
the Indians and the whites ; the flats of the Mohawk 
and the country adjoining being the possession of the 
Mohawk tribe, who were acknowledged by the other 
tribes of the Maquas or Iroquois to be the true old 
heads of the confederacy. This tribe having remained 
faithful to the British throughout the revolution, finally 
forsook their town at Fort Hunter, and removed to the 
province of Upper Canada in 1780, under the auspices 
of Sir John Johnson." 

Until 1784. according to the interesting annals of 
Oneida county, by Pomroy Jones, there was no white 
man's dwelling house between Fort Stanwix and Fort 
Schuyler ; and in that year Hugh White came from 
Middletown. Connecticut, and built the first house erected 
at Whitesboro. and on his way up the Mohawk river, he 
found some unoccupied farms ; and not far east of the 
site of Utica, the blackened remains of burned dwelling; 
houses and barns told the story of the savage work of 
the Indians and tories during the revolution. It must 
be remembered that the war of the revolution, the 
deadly hostility between the patriots and tories, and 
the raids of Indians put a stop to improvements in the 
valley of the Mohawk, so that west of Schenectady, 
with the exception of a few places, it was almost an 



9 

unbroken wilderness. The western boundaries of this 
State were undefined. Massachusetts claimed juris- 
diction at the west end of our State, and the claim 
was finally settled by allowing her the land, but only 
as so much land within the boundaries and under 
the jurisdiction of the State of New York. 

Within the lifetime of men now living, there was no 
Oneida county, no Trenton, and no roads in all this part 
of the country, except the pathways of the Indians 
through the silent forest. 

In 1793, Trenton's first settler arrived, Grerrit Boon, 
of Holland. Marking forest trees for the line of a fu- 
ture road, as he came over from Fort Schuyler, pitching 
his tent here in this sheltered valley where two creeks 
come together, he determined that this should be the 
seat of a future village, and he called it Olden Bame- 
veld, not only as significant of the love of religious lib- 
erty which sought a place of refuge from the tyranny and 
bigotry of the old world, but also as a monument to the 
memory of John of the Olden Barneveld, a noble family 
of Gerland, of whom Motley speaks as the foremost 
statesman of the Netherlands, " who had the hardihood, 
although a determined Protestant himself, to claim for 
the Roman Catholics the right to exercise their religion 
in the Free States, on equal terms with those of the 
reformed faith." A lineal descendant of this patriot and 
martyr now resides at Utica — Mrs. James Madison 
Weed, — the adopted daughter of the late Rudolph Sny- 



10 

der, and an esteemed friend of your deceased Sophia 
Mappa. 

The name of Olden Barneveld comes back to me as I 
recollect its inscription on the letters which my youth- 
ful hands so often carried to the mysterious post office. 
It has been suggested that if the name had been short- 
ened to Barneveld it might yet have been retained by a 
people too young and too much in a hurry to think or 
say " Olden." It is to be regretted that the historic des- 
ignations of Fort Schuyler and Fort Stanwix and Bar- 
neveld should have been changed for those of Utica, 
Rome and Trenton ; and that Indian and descriptive 
names of localities and streams have been thrown aside 
and misplaced Latin and Greek names substituted in 
their stead. 

It was not poverty or mere adventure which brought 
Gerrit Boon through the wilderness to this place in 1793, 
but a great trust which to day astonishes us by its mag- 
nitude He was the agent of the Holland Land Com- 
pany, which at one time owned over five millions of 
acres of land in this country. Among the trustees and 
agents of that Company were Herman LeRoy, William 
Bayard, James McEver, Paul Busti, H. J. Huidekoper, 
Col. John Lincklaen, Gen. J. D. Ledyard, David Evans, 
Joseph Ellicott and others. The title to all the twenty- 
three thousand acres in Servis' patent, under which 
many of you hold your farms and homesteads, was at 
one time vested in Gerrit Boon as trustee. As that pat- 



11 

ent is in your own town, it will interest you to know 
that it was granted in 1768 by Sir Henry Moore, then 
Governor of the Colony, nominally to Peter Servis and 
twenty four others, but really for Sir William Johnson. 
Jones states that after the grant, Sir William made 
a great feast, roasting an ox whole, and to this feast he 
invited Peter Servis, and his twenty-four colleagues, 
and during the feast they conveyed the land to him. 
It descended to his son, Sir John Johnson, who con- 
veyed it to some parties in New York city, who between 
1790 and 1800, conveyed this and other tracts of land 
to Gerrit Boon in trust for the Holland Land Company. 

Although there is no record of the conveyance from 
Servis to Sir William, his title has never been disputed 
save once and then by Servis himself, who after the rev- 
olution, hearing that Sir John had buried his title deeds 
during the war, and that they had thus become illegible, 
brought an action of ejectment against Boon, but the 
court allowed verbal evidence to be given of his convey- 
ance to Sir William, and Servis was defeated. The wit- 
ness, to prove the conveyance from Servis and others 
to Sir William, was an old negro who was employed 
to fiddle for the guests at the feast. 

Mr. Boon erected a frame dwelling house upon the 
lot where we are now assembled. That house was sub- 
sequently moved by the Rev. Mr. Sherman across the 
road, where it was enlarged and where it now stands, 
the pleasant and hospitable residence of Mrs. Douglass. 



12 

Mr. Boon, like many others from the country, was com- 
pelled to undertakings in which he had no experience, 
and some of which would not work, like his stone grist 
mill, the picturesque ruins of which are on the banks of 
the Cincinnati creek, just above the rail road embank- 
ment. He could not make the dam stand, and so that 
mill was abandoned for another further up stream, which 
I shall mention hereafter. 

Dr. Guiteau is my authority for stating that Mr. 
Boon was the veritable Dutchman who was so delight- 
ed when he first saw the manufacture of maple sugar 
from the sap of your maple trees that he proposed to 
continue this business all the year round, and actually 
caused to be made a large number of grooved slats in 
which he proposed to conduct the sap from the hill siues 
re?ervoir in this valley. These slats were afterwards 
used more profitably for the sides of a large corn house, 
and the frame of that corn house is to-day doing service 
as a part of one of your dwelling houses. After resid- 
ing in this county a few years, and discharging his trust 
to the Holland Land Company with integrity and abil- 
ity, Mr. Boon returned to Holland. 

Col. Adam Gr. Mappa and his family followed Boon 
from Holland to this country, and Mr. Mappa became 
Mr. Boon's successor as agent of the Holland Land 
Company at this place, and after a year or so Francis 
Adrian Van der Kemp of Holland came here to reside. 
These two men were almost inseparable in their lives 



13 

and fortunes. Col. Mappa was an accomplished gentle- 
man, less learned but more practical than Mr. Van der 
Kemp and the latter in his autobiography speaks of 
him as an officer of acknowledged skill in the old world, 
who during the short-lived but disastrous revolution in 
Holland of 1786, in which both were engaged, was placed 
in charge of the army. 

Their cause seems to have been just and on the side 
of humanity and liberty, but they were defeated through 
the treachery of the Dutch government. Col. Mappa 
and his family escaped to this country, but Mr. Van der 
Kemp was imprisoned, and only released by a ransom 
of $35,000 paid by his friend Denys ; and in 1778 he 
and his family came to America, first settling at Esopus 
on the Hudson river, then on an island in Oneida Lake, 
and then here. His son, John J. Van der Kemp, was 
clerk in the office of the Holland Land Company at this 
place, then chief clerk, and finally general agent of the 
immense business of that Company, having his head- 
quarters at Philadelphia. The elder Van der Kemp be- 
came acquainted with John f Adams in 1780, while he 
was in Holland trying to negotiate a loan for our own 
country, in which he was seconded by Baron Van der 
Capellan and by Mr. Van der Kemp. 

There is now in the historical library at Buffalo a very 
interesting autobiography of Judge Van der Kemp 
placed there with valuable letters by his grand-daughter, 
Mrs. Henry, of Germantown, near Philadelphia. In 



14 

this biography he states that early in life, before com- 
pleting his studies, he became a deist, and was brought 
into trouble with clergymen by the boldness with which 
he asserted his views, and was unable to pursue his 
studies for want of money and that it occurred to him (to 
use his own language ,) " That the Baptists at Am- 
sterdam were reputed to be of extensive liberal princi- 
ples. * * I resolved then to open my mind to Pro- 
fessor Osterbaen, ask him for support to promote my 
studies at Amsterdam, in their Seminary, if I could be 
admitted without compromising myself in any manner, 
without constraint to any religious principles I might 
foster or adopt in future and with a full assurance that 1 
should be decently supported, all of which was gener- 
ously accepted, and Osterbaen actually proved himself 
to me a friend and benefactor, a guide and father." 

These facts relating to the liberality of the Baptists 
of Amsterdam, and this tribute to the wise generosity 
of Professor Osterbaen should be repeated in the pres- 
ence of all the citizens of Trenton, that they may right- 
ly value the good works of the Baptist Church. You 
doubtless desire to know the result of this generous 
compact with the youthful, but deistical Van der Kemp, 
I can best tell you of that in his own words : " I re- 
mained in my study, and continued my inquiries, night 
and day, taking no more rest as imperiously required, 
and was within a short time fully convinced of the his- 
torical truth of the Christian revelation. * * But 
the grand question remained ' What is the Christian re- 



15 

ligion ?' * * So I read the New Testament, I mean 
the Evangelists and Acts, again and again, until I was 
convinced that Jesus came into the world to bring life 
and immortality to light, which was indiscoverable by 
the light of reason — that a merciful God required from 
frail creatures sincerity of heart and genuine repentance, 
that — to love him and his neighbor was the summary 
of the doctrine of Jesus — the true characteristic of a 
genuine believer, and that it was the will of our Heav- 
enly Father that all his children should be saved. 

I explained myself faithfully and with candor to my 
friend and deemed it a duty in my situation to make a 
public profession of my religious principles, and received 
on it baptism from the worthy Van Heiningin in Novem- 
ber, 1773." Mr. Van der Kemp was admitted to the 
ministry and acquired much distinction, but after he 
took up arms against his government, he resigned his 
pastorate, and seems never to have resumed the minis- 
terial office in the pulpit. In this country, he was em- 
ployed by Governor Clinton in the work of translating 
the ancient Dutch records of the State, and was ap- 
pointed a master in chancery, and one of the assistant 
justices of the County Court, and hence his subse- 
quent title of Judge, by which he was generally ad- 
dressed. 

I take from Judge Van der Kemp's journal the follow- 
ing account of his reception in this country : 

' ' I delivered my letters of introduction to the French Ambas- 
sador, the Count Montier, introduced to him by Colonel A. Ham 



16 

ilton, so I did to General Knox, Governor Clinton, Melancthon 
Smith, and met with every kind of civility and hospitable recep- 
tions. It seemed a strife among many who should do the much ; 
never I can repay it, but never I am confident it can be obliter- 
ated in my breast. No relations, no parents could do more as 
Mr. and Mrs. Clinton ; the venerable Mrs. Tappan welcomed Mrs. 
Van der Kemp as a daughter, both ladies, and so Mrs. Hamilton 
conversed with your mother in Dutch. * * * Had we pos-" 
sessed indeed the first rank and worth then, yet we could not 
have desired a more cordial, a more distinguished reception than 
we were honored with day after day by the families of the Clin- 
tons, Knox and others. I send my other letters to Colonel Jere- 
miah Wadsworth, Governor W. Livingston, Benjamin Franklin 
and General Washington, from whom I received ere long a cour- 
teous invitation to visit Mount Vernon. Thither I went. I 
stopped at Elizabethtown, visited Governor Livingston, with 
whom I spent a few days in the most agreeable manner. From 
his seat I pursued my journey to Philadelphia, where I met the 
same hospitable reception by a mercantile house from Antwerp, 
by Benj. Franklin, and which should make me blush could I pass 
by it in silence, * * * So I arrived at last at Mount Vernon, 
where simplicity and order, unadorned grandeur and dignity 
had taken up their abode. That great man approved as well as 
Clinton, my plan of an agricultural life, and made me a tender 
of his services." 

Yet he also writes that there seemed to him in Wash- 
ington somewhat of a repelling coldness under a cour- 
teous demeanor. That Washington inspired others with 
awe is undoubtedly true. Whether it was his nature or 
the effect of the struggle through which he had passed, 
or of the great responsibilty laid upon him, I do not 
know ; but I was told by Mrs. Arthur Tappan, who was 
an adopted daughter of Alexander Hamilton, that she 
often saw General Washington at Hamilton's house, and 



17 

recollected that on all occasions when General Washing- 
ton entered the room there was a manifestation of such 
respect and care of manner towards him on the part of 
others as made a lasting impression upon her mind. I 
adopt the suggestion ot Rev. Mr. Silsbee, that it was of 
great importance that the person of the first President 
of the infant Republic should be surrounded with all the 
dignity of an European King. 

Our Hollanders themselves were not wanting: in 
serious formality ; and it is said that when Baron 
Steuben announced a visit at Trenton, they met him as 
he appeared at the edge of the forest and escorted him 
in line to the house, where he was received at the front 
door by the ladies with all the courtesy and considera- 
tion which would have been proffered to him in the Old 
World ; and no spot in the Old World could have 
shown more refinement or elegance of manner or more 
culture than was to be found at Olden Barneveld at that 
day. It is from the letters of John Adams, Thomas 
Jefferson and DeWitt Clinton that we receive the 
strongest impression of the learning of Judge Van der 
Kemp, which attracted towards him the admiration and 
esteem of those great men. 

Through the kindness of the Buffalo Historical So- 
ciety, I am permitted to have their original letters, and 
to present to you copies and extracts from some of 
them. First of all John Adams writes : 



18 

"London, Jan. 6, 1788. 

4 ' Sir — As I bad suffered much anxiety on your account during 
your imprisonment, your letter of the 29th of last month gave 
me some relief. I rejoiced to find that you was at liberty and 
out of danger. 

"Inclosed are two letters, which I hope may be of service to 
you. Living is now cheaper than it has been in America, and I 
doubt not you will succeed very well. You will be upon your 
guard among the Dutch people in New York respecting religious 
principles, until you have prudently informed yourself of the 
state of parties there. If you should not find everything to your 
wish in New York, I think in Pennsylvania you can not fail. 
But New York is the best place to go at first. 

1 ' I wish you a pleasant voyage, and am, sir, your most 

" Obedient servant, 
" Rev. Mr. Van der Kemp. " John Adams.*' 

DeWitt Clinton writes to him as follows : 

"Albany, 20 April. 1822. 

" My Dear Sir— * * * I shall go to the West early in June 
to visit the whole line of the canal, and, if possible, I will make 
a diverging visit on my return to the most learned man in 
America. When the opus basilicum is finished I shall consider 
the State as in a situation to be as prosperous as she pleases : but 
wealth and prosperity, my friend, are too often the parents of 
folly, and the more opulent the State the greater the temptation 
to the enterprises of parties. 

" Mrs. C. joins me in kind regards to you. 

I am yours most truly, 
"F. A. Van der Kemp, Esq. "DeWitt Clinton." 

Thomas Jefferson writes : 

"Monticello, Jan. 11, "24. 

"Dear Sir — Your favor of December 28 is duly received. It 
gladdens me with the information that you continue to enjoy 



19 

health. This is a principal mitigation of the evils of age. I 
wish that the situation of our friend. Mr. Adams, was equally- 
comfortable ; but what I learn of his physical condition is truly 
deplorable. His mind, however, continues strong and firm, his 
memory sound, his hearing perfect and his spirits good, but both 
he and myself are at that time of life when there is nothing 
before us to produce anxiety for its continuance. I am sorry for 
the occasion of expressing my condolence on the loss mentioned 
in your letter. The solitude in which we are left by the death of 
our friends is one of the great evils of protracted life. When I 
look back to the days of my youth it is like looking over a field 
of battle, all, all dead! and ourselves left alone amidst a new 
generation whom we know not, and who know not us. 

"I thank you beforehand for the book of your friend, P. 
Vreede, of which you have been so kind as to bespeak a copy for 
me. On the subject of my porte-feuille, be assured it contains 
nothing but copies of my letters: in these I have sometimes in- 
dulged myself in reflection on the things which have been 
passing — some of them like that to the Quaker to which your 
letter refers may give a moment's amusement to a reader. And 
from this voluminous mass, when I am dead, a selection may 
perhaps be made of a few which may have interest enough to 
bear a single reading. Mine has been too much a life of action to 
allow my mind to wander from the occurrences pressing on it. 

"Th. Jefferson." 

" Moxticello, November 30, '25. 
" Dear Sir— Your favor of the 16th is just received, and your 
silence on the subject of your health makes me hope it is good. 
A dozen years older than you are I have no right to expect as 
good. I have now been confined to the house six months, but 
latterly got better, insomuch as for a few days past to ride a 
little on horseback. * * * Although my eyesight is so good as 
not to use glasses by day, either for reading or writing, yet con- 
stant occupation in the concerns of our university permit me to 
read very little, and that of commercial science was never a fav- 
orite reading with me. The classics are my first delight, and I 



20 

unwillingly lay them by for the productions of the day. Our 
university, now the main business of my life, is going on with all 
the success I could expect. * * * Hoping you may continue 
to enjoy good health and a life of satisfaction, as long as you 
think life satisfactory at all, I pray you to be assured of my 
affectionate good wishes and great esteem and respect. 

"Th. Jefferson." 

Again Clinton writes : 

'•Albany, S April, 1823. 

" My Dear Sir — I have sent by mail a collection of Governor 
Clinton's speeches, printed by a bookseller in New York. 

"Dante I shall endeavor to procure for you. Ecce Homo is a 
book highly blasphemous. The Trinitarians believe in the divin- 
ity of the person, as well as the mission of Christ. The Unitar- 
ians only in the divinity of the mission — both creeds ascribe the 
utmost purity to Jesus, and consider him with the highest vener- 
ation; but Ecce Homo assails his moral character, and treats him 
as an impostor. This book is not for sale and I can not ask the 
author for a perusal. It would be indirect encouragement. 
Your letter to Colonel Mappa, on the canal, written in 1792, is 
really a curiosity. It gives you the original invention of the 
Erie route, and I shall lay it by as a subject of momentous refer- 
ence on some future occasion. I shall, as I shall soon have 
leisure, review your philosophical work with pleasure. (Mr. 
Clinton sent Mr. Van cler Kemp his portrait and writes about it 
as follows :) 

* * * "lam glad that you are pleased with the operations 
of the pencil and the graver in the representation you have of 
your friend. Whatever their correctness may be I can assure 
you that I give you a true delineation of his heart, when I say 
that he will always be happy to hear from you, and announce to 
you by words and deeds the sincerity of his friendship, and the 
entirety of his respects. 

" My regards to the family. 

' ' Yours truly, 

" Dr. Van der Kemp. " DeWitt Clinton. 



2L 

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, which is the 
depository of a portion of Judge Van der Kemp's cor- 
respondence, has kindly furnished me with the following 
copy of a letter to him from John Adams, which is 
worthy of particular attention. 

"Quincy, March 3, 1804. 

"Dear Sir— Last night I ree'd your favor of the 15 of Feby. 
At the two last meetings of our Academy, I made inquiry con- 
cerning your manuscript, and found that the committee had re- 
ferred it to a sub-committee who Avere not then present and 
had not reported. I will endeavor to get this matter settled at 
the next meeting, in May. 

"Buff on, I presume from all that I have heard or read of him, 
believed in nothing but matter, which he thought was eternal and 
self existent. The universe had been from eternity as it is 
now, with all its good and evil, intelligence and accident, beauty 
and deformity, harmony and dissonance, order and confusion, 
virtue and vice, wisdom and folly, equity and iniquity, truth and 
lies. That planets and suns, systems and systems of systems, are 
born and die like animals and vegetables, and that this progress 
will go on to all eternity. Something like this was the creed of 
the K. of Prussia and DAlembert, Diderot and De le Loude. 
All this I think is no more nor less than the creed of Epicurus, as 
set to music by Lucretius. ' The movements of nature, mean 
the movements of matter. But can matter move itself ? ' The 
renovating power of matter, ' what does this mean ? Can mat- 
ter if annihilated recreate itself ? Matter, if at rest, can it set 
itself in motion ? An Ambassador once told me ' he could not 
bear St. Paul, he was so severe against fornication.' On the 
same principle these philosophers cannot bear a God. because he 
is just. 

"You could not apply more unfortunately than to me, for any 
knowledge of natural history. A little law, a little Ethicks and 
a little history constitute all the circle of my knowledge, and I 



22 

am too old to acquire anything new. " Sensible as I am of the 
honour, and grateful as I am to you for the offer, I beg leave 
to decline the dedication. I wish to pass off, as little talked of 
and thought of as possible. I can hear nothing of Ingraham's 
journal. It might, for what I know, have gone to the bottom of 
the sea with him in the Insurgente. In the wisdom, power 
and good ness of our Maker, is all the security we have against 
roasting in volcanoes, writhing with the torture of gout, stone, 
cholicks and cancers, sinking . under the burthens of dray 
horses and hackney coach horses to all eternity. Nature pro- 
duces all these evils, and if she does it by chance she might assign 
them all to us, whether we behave well or ill ; and she, poor hag, 
will not knoAv what she does. Almost forty years ago, ■/. e. in 
1765, I wrote a few thoughts in Edis & Gill's Gazette. Mr. Hollis, 
of London, printed them in a pamphlet and imputed them to 
Mr. Gridley. He gave them the title of a Dissertation on the 
Common and Feudal Laws. A lamentable bagatelle it is. I 
have no copy of it and know not where to get one. I know 
nothing of Stewart's success. I satt to him at the request of our 
Massachusetts Legislature, but have never seen anything of the 
picture but the first sketch. There are no more than two vol- 
umes of the Memoirs of the Academy. Count Sarsfield solicited 
me very earnestly in London to let him import some French 
mirrors, under my privilege. I told him I considered my privilege 
as sacred. He then answered, ' // ne vaut pas mi sou d etre 
votre amV Don't let Hamilton know this. If you do he will 
record it in his next pamphlet as an instance of my vanity. 

li Your letters always give pleasure to your old friend, 

" Mr. Fr. Adr. Van der Kemp. John Adams." 

Judge Van der Kemp was very near sighted, and one 
winter having occasion to go to a neighboring village, he 
drove his horses some ways, when suddenly coming 
upon a settlement, he inquired what village that might 
be, and being told it was Trenton, replied, " Ah ! but it 



23 

may not be as, I have just left there," yet it was Trenton. 
Mrs. Ann Jones tells me that when at Esopus, he under- 
took to cut down a tree; Governor George Clinton 
discovered the attempt, and slipping on a workman's 
dress and taking a scythe in his hand, proceeded 
towards the judge as if mowing, and when near enough 
exclaimed Ah ! Mine herr Van der Kemp, you can no 
more cut down that tree than if you were a woodpecker. 
The Judge detected the Governor's voice, and threw 
down his axe, while the Governor abandoned his scythe 
equally as useless. 

When the Judge wished to build a barn on his island 
in Oneida Lake, although surrounded by a dense forest 
of all kinds of timber, he had the frame hewed on the 
banks of the Hudson river, and rafted all the way up 
that and the Mohawk river and then into Wood Creek to 
the Oneida Lake, where his chicken house, as afterwards 
seen by others, proved to be a better building than his 
own dwelling. His forgetfulness brought him into much 
confusion at times, as when in Philadelphia, he hired a 
horse and wagon, taking no note of name, or street or 
number, of the owner, and so on his return went driving 
through the streets, inquiring of the people if they 
knew whose horse and wagon he was driving. 

I close this notice of Judge Van der Kemp and Col. 
Adam G. Mappa by giving to you an admirable descrip- 
tion of them, which appears in letter form in a rare 
book published in 1822 entitled "Letters on the Natural 



24 

History and Internal Resources of the State of New- 
York, by Hibernicus." 

Hibernicus is supposed to have been DeWitt Clinton. 
His letter is as follows : 

" Western Region, September, 1820. 

" My Dear Sir— In one of my solitary walks, with my gun on 
my shoulder, and my dog by my side, I strayed eight or ten 
miles from my lodgings: and as I was musing on the beauties of 
the country and meditating on the various and picturesque 
scenes which were constantly unfolding. I was roused from my 
reverie by voices, which proceeded from persons at a short dis- 
tance. In casting my eyes in that direction. I saw two venera- 
ble men with fishing rods in their hands, angling for trout, in a 
copious and pellucid stream, which rolled at their feet. I was 
hailed by them and requested to approach, which I immediately 
did, and in exchanging salutations, I found that they were men 
of the world, perfectly acquainted with the courtesies of life. 
One of them held up a string of fine trout, and asked me in the 
most obliging manner to go home with them and partake of the 
fruits of their amusement. Struck with the appearance of the 
strangers, and anxious to avail myself of the pleasure of their 
company. I did not hesitate to accept of this hospitable offer, on 
condition that they would permit me to add the woodcock, snipe 
and wood-ducks which were suspended from my gun, to their 
acquisitions. This offer was kindly accepted. A general and 
desultory conversation ensued, and we arrived in a short time 
at a small village, and on ascending the steps of an elegant 
house. I was congratulated by my new friends on my entry into 
Oldenbarneveld. In the course 'of an hour dinner was served up. 
I sat down and enjoyed a treat worthy to be compared to the 
Symposium of Plato. I soon found that these venerable friends 
were emigrants from Holland, that they were men of highly 
cultivated minds and polished manners, and that they had selec- 
ted their habitations in this place where they enjoyed 



25 

" An elegant sufficiency, content. 
Refinement, rural quiet, friendship, books, 
Ease and alternate Labor, useful life, 
Progressive virtue and approving Heaven." 

" The elder of these gentlemen had received the best education 
which Holland could afford. He was brought up a clergyman 
and at the commencement of the American revolution, he became 
its enthusiastic and energetic advocate, and wrote an able work 
in vindication of its character and conduct. In the struggles 
which subsequently took place in his native country, he sided 
with the patriots. His friend held a high military office during 
that commotion, and unites the frankness of a soldier and the 
refinement of a gentlemen with the erudition of a scholar. 
During their residence in this country they have been atten- 
tive to its interests. As far back as 1795, the elder gentleman 
proposed an Agricultural Society for this district, and addressed it 
in a luminous speech. 

• - 1 was penetrated with the most profound respect when I 
witnessed the various and extensive acquirements of this man. 
He is a perfect master of all the Greek and Roman authors ; — 
skilled in Hebrew, the Syriac and the other Oriental languages — 
with the German and French he is perfectly acquainted — his 
mind is a great and inexhaustible store-house of knowledge ; and 
I could perceive no deficiency, except in his not being perfectly 
acquainted with the modern discoveries in natural science, 
which arises in a great degree from his sequestered life. 
He manages an extensive correspondence with many learned 
men in Europe as well as America; and although I had never 
heard of him before, yet I am happy to understand that his mer- 
its are justly appreciated by some of the first men in this coun- 
try. He has lately been complimented with a degree of Doctor 
of Laws, by a celebrated University of New England. He is now 
employed by the State of New York in translating its Dutch rec- 
ords — and through the munificence of David Parish, the great 
banker, he will be enabled to have transcripts of the records of 
the Dutch West India Company to fill up an important chasm in 
the history of this great State. 



26 

"Thus, my friend, I have made a great discovery. In a se- 
cluded, unassuming village, I have discovered the most learned 
man in America, cultivating like our first parent, his beautiful 
and spacious garden with his own hands — cultivating literature 
and science — cultivating the virtues which adorn the fireside and 
the altar — cultivating the esteem of the wise and the good — and 
blessing with the radiations of his illumined and highly gifted 
mind, all who enjoy his conversation, and who are honored by 
his correspondence." 

The portrait of DeWitt Clinton, referred to in one of 
his letters, is now in the possession of your esteemed 
fellow-citizen, Dr. Guiteau. His father, Dr. Luther Guit- 
eau, was born at Lanesboro, Massachusetts, in 1778 ; 
he came here in 1802, and practiced his profession 
until his death in 1850, and during the forty-eight 
years of his profesional life, he was but once led aside 
from it, and that was when elected to the State Assem- 
bly in 1809. Dr. Luther Guiteau, senior, was succed- 
ed in his profession and practice by his son of the same 
name; and so from 1802 to this hour, there has not been 
a day in which there was not some one of that family 
to care for you, at the joyous dawn of life, or at its 
sad close, or during intermediate hours of sickness. 

Mr. Jones, in his annals twenty-five years ago, pub- 
lished these words of the elder Guiteau : "Not a little 
remarkable in the history of his family, was their con- 
nection with the medical profession. For many genera- 
tions it is well ascertained that they had in succession 
furnished one at least who did credit to himself, and 
honor to the science of medicine. It is said of the 



27 

Swiss, that their mountains become them and they be- 
come their mountains. With no less truth it may be 
said of the Guiteau family, the medical profession be- 
comes it, and it becomes the profession." The quarter of 
a century which has elapsed since Mr. Jones made that 
statement, has made no change in the relation of the 
family to the medical profession, and may the day never 
come when there shall not be found some one of that 
name and family engaged in this most humane of all 
occupations. The elder Dr. Guiteau was a firm Demo- 
crat and in a minority in this village of Federalists, with 
whom party spirit ran so high that it was determined to 
dispense with Dr. Guiteau's services, and so they hired 
two physicians, one after the other, whose medicines 
they hoped would not have a democratic flavor. But 
alas ! when sickness came the people would call in Dr. 
Guiteau, and the last of the political doctors quit the 
place in disgust, declaring that he would not stay here 
and shake the bush for Dr. Guiteau to catch the bird. 
After this the doctor was master of the field of medi- 
cine, and no democratic ingredients were found in his 
practice, although at one political struggle he was charged 
with having bled to death a Mr. Culver, a patient of 
his. To this the doctor refused to make any reply un- 
til election day, when he produced the dead man in 
good health and received from him a sound democratic 
vote. Generally the Democrats were the sufferers 
by this bitterness of party feeling, but, on one occa- 
sion, it served them a good turn. During the war of 



28 

18 L2, a woolen factory was started here, manufacturing 
uncommonly good cloth, which, at that time commanded 
$10 a yard, and the Federalists would not permit 
Democrats to take any stock ; but the war closed, cloth 
fell to $5 a yard, the factory failed and the Federalists 
lost heavily — while the Democrats escaped. The old 
factory building still stands on the south side of the 
creek and is used as a cooper or a machine shop of some 
sort, driven by the water which flows to it through an 
arched stone flume, some thirteen feet below the surface 
of the ground. 

During the war of 1812, an epidemic broke out in our 
army which was very fatal among the soldiers and final- 
ly spread to such an extent that the President of the 
State Medical Society published a description of the dis 
ease and of the treatment adopted by the Society, 
which forbade bleeding. Dr. Guiteau, on the other hand, 
insisted that every patient would die who was not bled, 
and he had the courage to bleed and thus saved every 
person brought to him in season. His reputation soon 
became so well established that Joseph Bonaparte re- 
quested him to visit professionlly his private secretary, 
then sick at Denmark, in Lewis county, where Bona- 
parte and his associates then were, on their way to visit 
LeRay Du Chamont, one of Napoleon's treasurers, 
who after the battle of Waterloo had come to this 
country, and settled in Jefferson county. At Denmark, 
Dr. Guiteau met a Capt. Sayre, who, as he was 
told, commanded the vessel which rescued Napo- 



29 

leon from Elba. Thus strangely the history of this 
country is associated with that of some of the most no- 
table men and events of the old world. 

In 1802, Rev. John Taylor, a native of Westfield, 
Mass , a graduate of Yale College, visited this part of 
the country and made a report on the state of religion, 
which will be found in the third volume of the Docu- 
mentary History of New York, on page 673. August 
3d he states that at Trenton, six miles east of Floyd, 
he put up with Rev. Mr. Fish, from New Jersey, who 
was then employed part of the time by the people of 
that town and the remainder rides "as a missionary." 
Then again he writes: " Trenton, August 4, — 17 miles 
north of Utica : In this place there is no church formed. 
A majority of the people are Presbyterians; the remain- 
der are Baptists and persons of no religion, and a few 
Methodists." He adds : " I visited a school of fifty 
children, w T ho have a good instructor." 

Mr. Jones says that Mr. Fish was the first preacher 
who visited the town, and that he is named as the first 
pastor of the church at Holland Patent, which was organ- 
ized in 1797. Mr. Tuttle of Holland Patent, informs 
me that the deserted stone Presbyterian Church in 
Trenton village was not built until 1821. People from 
North Gage, South Trenton, and beyond Trenton, 
came here to attend service in this stone church. 
In 1805 or 180G, Rev. John Sherman, who was a 
grandson of Roger Sherman, of Connecticut, the signer 



30 

of the Declaration of Independence, became pastor 
of the Unitarian Church, in this village, over which Mr. 
Silsbee is now settled, and this is said to be the 
first church of that denomination established hi this 
State, although their building for public worship was not 
•erected until 1814, and soon after that Mr. Sherman 
resigned and Rev. Isaac B. Pierce, of Rhode Island, 
succeeded him.* 

Mr. Sherman, in 1812, started an Academy here which 
was successful, and his pupils regard his memory with 
great affection and respect. He published a work on 
the Philosophy of Language, much in advance of his 
time, and is said to have been an eloquent preacher and 
a finished scholar. From his first coming in 1805, Mr. 
Sherman was captivated by the beauty of the ravine and 
falls on West Canada Creek, and, being convinced that 
they must ultimately attract public attention, he pur- 
chased of the Holland Land Company, in 1822, sixty 
acres of land, including the first or Sherman Fall, as 
it is termed, and erected on the site of the present hotel, 
a small building, which he called Rural Resort. At 
first this house was opened and occupied only during 
the day, but in 1824, Philip Hone and his family, and 
Dominick Lynch of New York, with his family, insisted 
that they should be allowed to remain over night, and Mr. 

* According to a very interesting letter from Mr. John W. Douglas, 
which will be found in the Appendix, the organization of "The United 
Protestant Religious Society," was in 1803, with two Calvinistic and one 
Unitarian Trustees. And the Unitarian Church was organized in 1806, 
with "doctrines embodied in the church creed so few and general as to 
receive the assent of Socinian and Trinitarian alike." 



31 

Hone inquired of Mr. Sherman why he did not erect a 
building of sufficient size and furnish it to entertain guests. 
To this question Mr. Sherman replied by asking him if 
he ever knew a minister who had any money. Mr. 
Hone met this difficulty by tendering him a loan of 
$5,000, and thus we have our favorite Trenton F.ills 
House, where resides our friend Mr. Moore, with his 
wife ; the daughter of Mr. Sherman, and with a family 
sufficiently numerous always to meet his friends at the 
gate. 

Rev. Isaac B. Pierce, from Rhode Island, succeeded 
Mr. Sherman as pastor over the Unitarian Church. He 
seems to have been much beloved, and Mr. Jones in his 
annals, states that he preached here twenty- five years, 
to the entire satisfaction of his people. He had some of 
that simplicity of character which appeared in our 
Dutch settlers, and endeared them to their friends. 
He kept thirteen cats and had names for them all ; and 
he clung with most commendable tenacity to knee- 
breeches and shoe-buckles long after they were out of 
fashion. 

You have living in your neighborhood a man who 
was born before any white man ventured to think of 
settling here — Vincent Tuttle, of Holhind Patent. He 
was born in 1790, and now, 86 years old, has a firm 
step and sound memory He came here in March, 
1804. He tells me that at that time the Trenton clear- 
ing extended only as far as the place where the Pros- 



32 

pect railroad depot dow stands ; that all north of that, 
including the ground where Prospect village now is, was 
covered by a dense forest ; that he helped cut the road 
towards Prospect, in front of Mr. Win. Perkins' land, in 
1807 ; that the village of Prospect was laid out by Col. 
Mappa, in 1811, and by him named Prospect; and that 
when he came here Col. Adam G. Mappa resided where 
we are now assembled, but in a frame house built by 
Gerrit Boon. He says that in 1809 the Holland Land 
Company, at a cost of $13,000, built this stone man- 
sion before which we now stand, and which has wit- 
nessed under its hospitable roof many assemblages of 
distinguished people. 

Mr. Tuttle reports that in 1804 the stone grist mill 
of which we now see the ruins on the flat by the creek, 
(near the rail-road depot,) was still in good order — but 
that the dam had been carried away by a flood. This 
mill was built by Boon at the expense of the Holland 
Land Company, to save the settlers the time and labor 
and difficulty of walking 15 miles to Whitesboro to 
get flour, the road being impassable in any other way. 
The location of this dam and mill proving unfortunate, 
the Company abandoned it and built a new grist mill on 
the Cincinnati creek a few rods below the* present location 
of Parker's foundry, and the Company also erected a 
saw mill on the site now used for a saw mill — subse- 
quently the company sold their mills to Peter Schuyler, 
who after running them several years sold out to James 
Parker, an important settler, who occupied and run the 



33 

mills many years, day and night, doing a large business, 
his customers coming from Steuben, Remsen and Boon- 
ville, to have their grist ground. 

The farmers of that day raised their own wheat, and 
had it for sale, but no flour could then be obtained at 
stores, and therefore the whole community were intense- 
ly interested about the grist mills. Tailors, and boot and 
shoe makers, had no shops, but went from house to house, 
mending and " making up" for the year. The women 
of the country carded by hand the fleeces of wool clipped 
by the farmers, and with their spinning wheels, they 
spun and made yarn, and then by hand-looms such as 
worked to-day by Mrs. Perkins, at Prospect, wove 
the cloth for their own and their children's dresses. 
These lasted for years, and were banded down from 
mother to child. So too with linen. The farmers raised 
flax, and when it was broken and made ready for the 
spinning wheel, the women took and spun and wove it, 
and made all the linen for household uses.* 

You can readily imagine therefore what a blessing to 
the women was a carding and fulling mill, and there 
was rejoicing in this land when in 1806, a man by 
the name of Ensign put up such machinery on the 
Cincinnati Creek,* just above the foundry. The falls on 
the creek opposite the Prospect depot are sometimes 
called Ensign Falls — after the builder of this carding 

* As to similar customs in General Washington's family <hr inn- the Revo- 
lution, — sec Appendix. * As toCincinuati Creek —see Appendix. 
C 



/ y 



34 

and fulling mill. He sold out to Timothy Powers, who 
built new and larger works, and did a great deal of busi- 
ness for several years. His carding mill stood where 
the present foundry is located. The first male child 
born in the town was a son of the Mr. James Parker, 
already mentioned. He was named Adam, after Colonel 
Adam Mappa, although many supposed he was called 
Adam because he was the first child born in the town. 

George Parker, another son of James Parker, and 
the father of the Messrs. Parkers who now own the 
foundry, was a very ingenious mechanic, learned 
his trade with Shubael Storrs, a watchmaker in Utica, 
and then returning to Trenton, built a foundry on the 
Cincinnati Creek, which was subsequently turned into a 
grist mill. This was a short-lived affair, and the the 
building now remains unoccupied. 

Mr. Tuttle informs me that in the fall of 1804, Cap- 
tain John Billings, of New London, Conn., and Mr. 
James Douglas, of Westfield, Massachusetts, came to 
Trenton. They were merchants, by marriage related 
to one another, and to Dr. Guiteau. Mr. Billings 
was appointed postmaster in 1805, which oflice he held 
about 50 years, and accounted for every cent of the 
receipts of his olrice. He was born in 1781 and died 
in 1863. 

The grandfather of Mr. -lames Douglas was a native 
of Scotland. Subsequently he became a planter on the 



35 

island of Jamaica. He had two children, a son and 
daughter ; his son, Thomas James Douglas, at the age 
of 18, and in the year 1766, came to America, with two 
servants, landing at Providence, Rhode Island. He 
engaged in the revolutionary struggle with Great Britain, 
holding the commission of Major in the army. His son, 
James Douglas, was born at Feeding Hills, near West- 
field Mass., in 1778, and as I have already mentioned, 
came here in the fall of 1804, with Captain Billings. 
They were strongly urged to stop at Utica, but the hill- 
sides about Utica were very wet, while the lowlands 
were subject to the overilowings of the Mohawk river. 
Mr. Douglas died in 1851, leaving a widow and sons 
and daughters, who survive him. Mr. Douglas held a 
captain's commission in the war of 1812, and went with 
his company to Sackett's Harbor. For thirty years, 
Mr. Douglas and Capt. Billings were associated in busi- 
ness, and when they dissolved partnership, the new 
firm was Douglas & Son.* About J 810, there were five 
stores at Trenton, which were carried on by the follow- 
ing persons : Mappa & Remsen, Chapman & Cooper, 
Billings & Douglas, Brooks & Mason, and Mr. Griswold. 
At that time there was no village of Prospect. There 
was Remsen, but no store there ; Holland Patent, but 
no store there ; Russia, but no store there. And thus 
the trade of that part of Herkimer county, and all this 
part of Oneida county was tributary to your village, and 
some trade* came over from Martinsburg. 

* See letter from Mr. John W. Douglas in A.ppendix. 



36 

Mr. Tuttle states that Colonel Thomas Hicks built 
the house in which Dr. Guiteau now resides. He was 
an influential and active citizen, and an ardent Federal- 
ist. The house in which Judge Van der Kemp resided, 
Mr. Tuttle thinks was built by him. That is quite 
likely, but the original poor, thin, cold building cannot 
now be recognized in the pretty and comfortable cottage 
occupied by Mr. Silsbee. 

From 1816 to 1871, Mr. Tuttle owned 164 acres of 
land, which included all of Trenton Falls on the west 
side of Canada Creek, up to Fanning' s (now Perkins) 
south line, except the first or Sherman fall. lie gave 
for it in 1S16, from $20 to $25 per acre, and sold it in 
1871, to Mr. Moore, for $100 per acre, but Mr. Moore 
occupied the land under a lease, twenty years before he 
purchased it. Mr. Tuttle states thst prior to 1822, those 
who wished to see the falls used to stop at the Backus 
Hotel, now Mr. Skinner's house, in your village, and 
then go to the ravine by a path across the fields and 
through some gates. About the year, 1822, Joseph 
Bonaparte, who then lived in New Jersey, gave money 
to Mr. Backus to blast out some of the rock in the ra- 
vine, so as to make a, safe walk. Bonaparte was de- 
lighted with the beauty of the falls, and predicted that 
they would be of great note ; and to-day Mr. Moore's 
register will show the names of visitors from all parts of 
the world, Among the first of your inhabitants, Judge 
John Storrs held the office of Supervisor eleven years ; 
Peter Schuyler ten years, and William Rollo eighteen 



37 

years. When we look back upon the early settlers we 
wish we had the time to give the name and history of every 
one, but they numbered between two and three hundred 
as early as 1804. We can only therefore refer to a few. 

William Miller came from Schagticoke to Trenton 
at about the same time that Gerrit Boon did, in 1793. 
There were then but three loghouses in what is now CJtica. 
Me was a German by birth and a blacksmith by trade, 
and for the first few years worked for Boon, making 
among other things all the iron work of. the grist mill 
built by the latter. In 1790 he bought and took the 
deeds of two tracts of land, amounting to about two hun- 
dred acres, in Servis' Patent, Herkimer county, but 
now in the town of Trenton, and the same have been 
ever since owned by his heirs. The original deeds are 
signed by Gerrit Boon and by Herman LeRoy and Wil- 
liam Bayard, by Boon, their attorney. No town is men- 
tioned in the deeds, which were acknowledged before 
Arthur Breese, Master in Chancery, and recorded in 
Herkimer county clerk's office, December 14 th, 171)7, 
while Jonas Piatt was County Clerk. William Miller 
then cleared up about fifty acres of land, built a log 
house, went back to Rensselaer county, and was mar- 
ried and brought his wife back with him, and lived upon 
this land until his death. His oldest child was John 
Miller, who was born November 18th, 1798. Major 
Henry Miller was the third child, and was born in 1802. 
He still has the old deeds and papers of his father, exe- 
cuted at that early time, and can remember when not a 



38 

tree was cut between the creeks from his father's farm 
to the Renshaw place, and there was not a house at 
Trenton Falls. When John Sherman taught at the 
Renshaw Place, Henry Miller attended his school, going 
and coming by a foot path through the woods. This 
Renshaw Place was afterwards known as the Tuttle 
farm. Tuttle worked for Maj. John Mappa, and Col. 
Mappa deeded this place to Tuttle. William Miller 
at one time owned a slave, but afterwards gave her her 
freedom. The bill of sale to him, which is still in the 
hands of Major Henry Miller, is dated October 30th, 
1804, from Pascal C. J. DeAngelis, for the price of £75, 
of a " Negro girl slave, named Patience, of the age of 
twenty-four years."* Long after she was free she con- 
tinued to live with Henry Miller, until she was married, 
when he gave her a house and lot near his residence, 
which she occupied to the end of her life. 

Mrs. Ann Jones is the daughter of a Welsh Baptist 
minister. She began to live here with the Mappas 
when about twelve years old, and lived with them until 
she was married. She is now about 86, and has a good 
memory. I have obtained from her some of the nar- 
ratives already given to you, and to them, should be 
added the following account of the substantial manner 
of living of our Dutch ancestry : 

1st — At half-past seven in the morning, tea and bread and 
butter. 

* Sec copy of this bill of sale in Appendix. 



39 

2d — At 11 o'clock, a lunch for the gentlemen. 
3d — At 1 o'clock, dinner. 
4th — At 6 o'clock, a light tea. 

5th — At o'clock, a hearty supper of cold meat and hot vege 
tallies, followed by sound sleep, and a good old age. 

Pascal C. J. DeAngelis was of foreign birth, but 
came to this country in boyhood. He took an active 
part in the revolutionary war in the naval service, and 
was taken prisoner by the British, and confined in 
Dartmoor prison. After the war he built and com- 
manded a vessel in the merchant service, trading princi- 
pally with the West Indies. Becoming acquainted 
with Mr. Johnson, one of the proprietors of Holland 
Patent;, named after Lord Holland — and which must not 
be confounded with the land of the Holland Land Com- 
pany — he was persuaded by his friend, Mr. Fisk, to 
forsake his favorite element, and to join him and a Mr. 
Hubbard in the purchase of one-quarter of this Holland 
Patent. They all came on in 1797, finding an unbroken 
wilderness, except where a few families had made small 
clearings. 

Under date of October 12, 1797, James Hulbert re- 
ceipts " the sum of one hundred and twenty dollars, of 
P. C. J. DeAngelis, for improvements and buildings." 
These consisted of a log house, on land now occupied by 
W. W. DeAngelis as a garden. In this rude building 
the family of Judge DeAngelis were glad to take their 
first night's rest. 



40 

Mr. Fisk built the first frame house in Holland Pat- 
ent, which is that in which F. II. Thomson now lives. 
Judge DeAngelis built the next, now occupied by Mr 
Charles M. White and his aged mother. This was built 
in the year 1800. I am informed by Dr. Guiteau that 
at an early day there lived at Holland Patent, a Deacon 
Palmer, who entered the army of the Revolution at eight- 
een years of age, and who was with it when the Amer 
ican and British forces occupied what was known as the 
neutral ground, near New York. At a meeting of some 
officers from both sides, one of the British claimed that 
they had a man in their service who could throw any 
American soldier. This resulted in a challenge and :i 
wrestling match which stirred up a great deal of interest 
and national pride. The officers of the American army 
selected young Palmer as the champion wrestler of our 
side. The officers of the British army selected as their 
champion a large and powerful soldier, weighing about 
240 pounds, who, when he saw young Palmer, (who was 
slight,) objected to wrestling with that boy ; but 
Palmer, who was an expert wrestler, insisted upon the 
contest, and speedily threw his antagonist and won the 
match, to the great delight of our army. Sometime 
after the war Palmer moved to Holland Patent, and be- 
came a deacon in the Congregational Church ; but 
afterwards, through the influence of Mr. Sherman he 
" lapsed from orthodoxy" and became an Unitarian. 
There was another deacon of firmer mind, who was 
orthodox, who not only did not lapse from what he 



41 

considered the true faith, but also deeply resented the 
heterodoxy of his brother deacon ; and so on one occa- 
sion when Palmer was at his house, he introduced the 
subject. The result was that a controversy on creeds 
arose which became so hot that the orthodox deacon 
lost his temper and ordered Palmer out of his house. 
To this order the response was, " Brother deacon, I shan't 
go ;" then, " I will put you out ;" then, " You know you 
can't do that ;" and thereupon the deacons militant grap- 
pled one another ; but alas ! orthodoxy in that form 
was overthrown and heterodox Palmer triumphantly 
held his brother on the floor until he fairly gave 
up the bodily contest. The wife of the orthodox deacon, 
who had witnessed this extraordinary theological and 
physical debate, told her husband (hat he was in fault, 
and proposed a mug of cider from the cellar as a cup of 
peace. This proposition was accepted, and we hear of 
no further controversy between the parties ; and nobody 
after that proposed to settle any difference with Palmer 
by single combat. He lived to be over seventy years of 
age and died, and was buried at Holland Patents 

I must here close this imperfect and unfinished account 
of this town, but not without the hope of gathering 
hereafter more facts and making a more complete record. 

This celebration is the work of the ladies of Trenton, 
and it is upon their invitation that I have given this 

* For an account of other citizens of the town of Trenton, sec in Ap- 
pendix the statements given to me by Mr. Warren C. Rowley. 



42 

review of the early history of this place, but no review 
can be considered complete which fails to show how 
large a share of the prosperity and virtue of the early 
settlers, was due to the self denial, and intelligence, and 
Christian principles of the women who shared with the 
men, all the trials, and dangers, and deprivations of their 
forest life. 

The women of the Revolution and of the first settle- 
ments, were the equals of the men in courage and 
resource to meet the necessities of a new country — and 
they were their superiors in refinement. The wives of 
the distinguished persons I have mentioned brought with 
them all the politeness and courtly manners of the Old 
World, and imparted them to their children. The mem- 
ory of Miss Mappa and Miss Van der Kemp is still 
fresh in the minds of you all — their unassuming good- 
ness, their gentle ways, not unmingled with energy, are 
household talk with you, and so did they endear them- 
selves to you that you yet think and speak of them as 
relatives — nor do you forget the fresh grave of Madame 
De Castro. I venture not beyond the mention of these 
names, lest I trespass upon grounds which you may think 
too sacred for this public occasion, but I can say that the 
general traits of their character pervaded this community, 
and that the religious, the thinking, and the working 
blood of the old world (and that is the only blood worth 
having or saving,) found its way here, and showed its 
superiority as well in the forests of America as in the 
Courts of Kings. Mothers instilled into the hearts and 



43 

minds of their children patriotism and virtue, and it is only 
when men depart from maternal precepts that they sac- 
rifice their integrity, and bring disgrace upon the 
offices of trust confided to them. To restore integrity 
and purity to the American people, in public and 
private, we look not to Legislatures, not to Governors 
or Presidents, not to Conventions, but to the Mother's 
Teachings in her own home, where she reigns supreme, 
and where her influence will determine the future history 
of this country. It is for her to check the extravagance 
of the present time, and to restore the simplicity and 
economy of living of the early days of the Republic. 

When I consider the past, I have no misgivings of the 
future. The history of the settlers of Trenton is the 
fulfillment of the words of the Psalmist, " Though he 
suffer them to be evil entreated through tyrants and let 
them wander out of the way in the wilderness, yet 
helpeth he the poor out of misery and maketh him 
households like a flock of sheep," — and with the Psalmist 
may we all say, " Let them give thanks whom the Lord 
hath redeemed and delivered from the hand of the 
enemy ; and gathered them out of the lands from the 
East and from the West, from the North and from the 
South." 



APPENDIX. 



CONTENTS OF APPENDIX. 



I Letters from Francis Adrian Van der Kemp to Col. Adam B. 
Mappa, in 1792, giving an account of his journey from Kings 
ton to Lake Ontario, on horseback, and by canoe. 

11 Partial catalogue of works of Judge Van der Kemp, furnished 
by Mr. H. A. Homes, State Librarian. 

III. Mr. William Tracy's narrative of Hugh White's grandchild. 

IV. Mr. William Tract's narrative of the rescue of James Dean. 

V. Extract from Miss Margaret C. Conkling's book, relative to 
the weaving of cloth at General Washington's homestead 
during the Revolution. 

VI. Letter from Mr. John W. Douglas. 

VII. Statement of Mr. Warren C. Rowley. 

VIII. Bill of sale of slave girl Patience, in Trenton. 



LETTERS 



PROM 



FRANCIS ADRIAN VAN DER KEMP 



COL. ADAM G. MAPPA, 



On a Tour through a part of the Western District of New York, in 1792, 



Non ego Romulea, miror, quod Pastor in urbe 
Sceptra gerat. Pastor conditor urbis erat. 

O, Buc7ianani,Frat Frater: p. 96. 



LETTERS 



Kingston, 15 July, 1792. 

My Dear Sir— You desire then with such ardour, to be 
informed of my opinion, in regard to the settlements on the 
north-western parts of our State, that I will not delay one 
moment longer to gratify you with all the information I 
possess on this momentous subject, although I deem it super- 
ficial. I shall join to it a concise diary of my excursion to 
that district. In this I have consulted your wishes with 
those of other friends here and on the other side of the At- 
lantic. Could I now adorn this journal with the embellish- 
ment of our new adopted language, and make it as interest- 
ing as Moore's Travels, my labors should be well rewarded 
but trusting on your indulgence and knowing that even a 
faint glimmering is desirable when we are surrounded with 
darkness, I waive to make any further apology. 

The period perhaps in which you may judge that you 
shall promote the interests of your family, by transplanting 
it from your delightful residence on the Second River, to the 
western wilderness, is not far distance. Perhaps the vivid 
sense of duty and the prospect of future advantages may spur 
you to follow the steps of a friend, who, tossed by various 
cares, disgusted with the bustle of public life, and longing to 
enjoy retirement, and securing to his children a permanent 
tranquil abode, searched for an asylum in that part of our 



49 

State to which he should have been lured by the delightful 
scenery of that country — by its fertility and the exuberant 
treasures of its lakes and rivers, could he have induced two 
or three congenial families to share in this enterprise. Every 
interesting point which I communicated to you two years past 
when 1 made a trip to the western branch of the Delaware, 
shall now appear to you in a new light, and my fanciful de- 
scription, as thou wast pleased to caricature it, naked truth ; 
while it shall contribute, in its turn, to place beyond doubt 
the continually increasing grandeur and incalculable power, 
at which this State, within a few years, must arrive with 
gigantic strides, if wisdom directs the steps of its children, 
and convince you that its western and north-western parts 
are to lie regarded as the main-springs of its opulence and 
grandeur. 

Do not expect, my dear sir, that 1 can spread glowing col- 
ors on the scenery, although I was often fascinated by it. 
Do not look for a picturesque description ; do not search for 
artful exertions to cover the nakedness of the land : No — this 
country does not want such auxiliaries. A simple diary — a 
dry account of the soil and trees — an incorrect list of the 
tinned tribe in the western waters — viz.: the few we could 
catch, comprehends the extent to which I can engage myself. 
I wish to convince you — I spurn to take you by surprise. 
Did I even write in behalf of the public, then yet I should 
only exert myself to express that with energy which I so 
lively felt, and my uncouth language would be persuading ; 
would extort the wish from an European bosom. Ah ! could 
I secure a residence in that happy country ! would compel 
the opulent miser to collect his musty dollars and exchange 
these lor some thousand acres of that wild land. Yes, my 
E 



50 

dear, I am convinced that half a dozen Dutch families, with 
a dozen substantial, industrious farmers and expert fishing 
men, seconded b}^ one hundred Yankees, might render, in a 
few years, this country the envied spot to the oldest and best 
cultivated parts of the thirteen States. 

The increasing prosperity of our State strikes the eye of 
short-sighted indolence: the foreigner admires our affluence, 
and our neighbour, the frugal, industrious Pennsylvauian 

should ardently wish that he could transplant the advantages < »f 
New York State to bis own soil. Now, lie often reluctantly 
leaves it, and becomes here indebted for a great part to 
Nature, which ho owed before to his prudent State Adminis- 
tration. 

I acknowledge, my dear sir, that our State constitution is 
upon the whole well organized, and the eagle-ey'd friend of 
liberty discovers only here and there a Haw, which might be 
altered— might be amended — but which, nevertheless, cannot 
obstruct, cannot disembogue our prosperity through another 
channel. 

Pennsylvania's industry — Pennsylvania's progress in agri- 
Culture ; in arts and sciences; Pennsylvania's encourage- 
ments to cultivate their wild lands have roused the New- 
Yorkers from their profound sleep, and, perhaps, were a spur 
to our public councils to press their steps. Already a be- 
ginning is made of opening roads to the West; the streams 
are covered with bridges, and rewards are offered to encour- 
age agriculture and elevate the natural productions of the 
soil to the highest possible perfection. The bee-hive of New 
England is opened, and, although flowery fields may allure 
many drones in the beginning, who eveD are beneficial in 



51 

many respects, myriads of that enlightened, active race shall, 
ere long, be amalgam with the old settlers. It may retard 
awhile the forming of our national character ; it must en- 
hance it in other respects. It shall blend the virtues, soften 
the harsh and too much protuberant features of the one ami 
the other, and bring forward under God's blessing, a virtuous, 
independent, lofty nation. 

Unincumbered with debts, what is more — a creditor of the 
United States, that of New York can advance to its indus- 
trious citizens, thousands .if pounds, and acquit itself actually 
of this parental charge in a generous manner. It possesses, 
nevertheless, an immense surplus to bestow on its daily ex- 
penditures, in the digging of canals, clearing the creeks and 
erecting sluices, without burthening its inhabitants with 
taxes, trifling ones excepted, for the benefit of the individual 
counties. 

Our commerce is increasing daily; our merchantmen cross 
every sea; our flag is treated with respect in the Indies, 
while those of the Pacific Ocean have become acquainted 
with its thirteen stripes ; so that you may assert with full 
truth what Caesar did of Pompey's armies, and the navy, by 
which his succors were cut off; that no wind can blow or it 
favours some of our vessels. The balance of trade inclines 
more and more : the exchange -hall ere long be generally in 
our advantage : the credit of our paper money, which in 17S8 
could not be exchanged for cash under 7 per cent, is restored 
and placed on a par with hard dollars ere long, if prudence 
continues to direct the helm ; if the nation becomes not too 
soon intoxicated by its prosperity ; if certain advantages are 
not sacrificed to visionary possibilities, we shall be the envy 
of the world, at least come in for a full share with the British 



52 

and the Dutch. The manufacturers are encouraged more 
and more, and increase in numbers and perfection, and must 
do so, at least for home consumption. The only thing yel 
wanting is a yet more copious population than that which is 
already an object oi surprise, while in this peculiar branch of 
a nation's wealth the wise politician will not grasp at a 
shadow to lose a reality in possession. 

You know me too well to suppose that I should underrate 
the value of manufacturers: no, sir! I am too deeply pene- 
trated of the immense prize which this 'noon is worth, as 
soon it is obtainable ; but I do not look out lor that period 
as long we possess thousands of millions of acres, good for 
tillage; as long our population is not proportioned to this im- 
mense territory ; as long the wages are so high ; as long every 
industrious man can become the lord of the soil — can become 
independent; as long the foreign market can afford to send 
us supplies, even in our own vessels, at a lower rate and of a 
superior quality than what we can manufacture. 

It is quite another thing, my dear sir that the wealthy 
patriot generously devotes a small share of his patrimony 
to their encouragement and improvement, so that in time of 
need, we may supply our wants, even if all the ports of the 
world were shut before us, and another thing to risk impru- 
dently his all to press a chimerical theory. It is quite 
another thing to use and encourage these means, to support 
the widow, the orphan, the indigent in the neighborhood 
and suburbs of the large cities, than to lure the rugged child 
of the field to the loom, to the forge and glasshouse, and 
persuade the robust youth that he is no more fret; behind 
his plow or harrow, or when he shoulders his axe for the 
woods, than under the eye and control of the tax masters of 



53 

the voluntary workhouse. Agriculture is under God's Mess- 
in- <>iir tutelar genius, and as long as she goes hand in hand 
with commerce, as long both are encouraged and flourish and 
prosper, as long the gifts of a bountiful God are showered 
upon us with such a rich profusion, I cannot, no; let me say- 
more truly I do not envy, that other Nations share in His 
blessings which are not yet adapted to our present situation. 
As soon our treaty of commerce with Great Britain shall be 
concluded, then the bond of union between the brethren shall 
be consolidated, and the prayers and praises of both countries 
shall ascend to heaven. The western forts, so long withheld, 
shall then be surrendered, and the commerce of our State 
receive nourishment from hitherto forbidden springs. The 
State of New York, indeed, though not aiming at dominion 
over the sister States, possesses so many high prerogatives, that 
sh emay claim to be at par with the proudest, and if she does 
not imperiously pretend to her precedence, would humble 
herself too low could she stoop to carry the train of her fair 
sister. Our situation alone, if the products of the country 
were less valuable, would secure to this State an eminent share 
in our National Commerce ; with the Atlantic Ocean to the 
South, the Lakes Ghamplain, St. George, Ontario, Erie, with 
the river St. Lawrence to the North, with Canada in our 
rear, New England and the -Jersey's to cover our sides, the 
State seems rather to have been fashioned according to the 
modern system of arrondiss&ment than well by nature, ami 
yet the conqueror's sword did not give us one inch. It is our 
paternal inheritance. The produce of a part of the Jerseys, 
of a vast part of New Hampshire, Connecticut, the back 
parts of Massachusetts, with the State of Vermont, do find 
our emporium of New York, the most desirable, advantageous 
market. 



54 

Our inland navigation, superior to that of many, equal 
already to the best watered States in the Union, contributes 
greatly to the increase of our commerce. The North, or the 
beautiful Hudson River, which the British, during our last 
unnatural war, considered as the line of health, in proportion 
that they approached to or retreated from its borders, navi- 
gable to large vessels to Hudsou, 130 miles above New York, 
with sloops from eighty ton and more to Albany, 105, and 
many miles more high with bateaux and small rafts. This 
majestic river receives besides, numerous rivulets more or less 
navigable, above Albauy at the Cohoes — a cascade of 07 feet 
— the Mohawk river, meandering through fertile fields, from 
where he originates to the north of Fort Stanwix. It was 
here that in former days, before our late happy Revolution, 
the Mohawk Indians resided, from whom it mutuated his 
name. 

Although the Mohawk becomes navigable for bateaux at 
no great distance from the Cohoes, all merchandise, never 
theless, is thus far carried by wagons from Albany to Sche- 
nectadi, from whence these are conveyed in bateaux about one 
hundred miles, including one mile portage, at the Little Falls, 
via Fort Stanwix. Here is a carrying place of half a mile 
to the Wood creek, which empties its waters after it is 
joined by the Fish creek in the Oneida Lake, as handsome, 
as rich in fish as any Lake in the western world. Above 
Fort Brewerton its waters disembogue through the Onondaga 
and Oswego Rivers in Lake Ontario, paying all their homage 
through the St. Lawrence to the Atlantic Ocean. 

Our government, I am informed, has passed a law to clear 
the navigation from the Mohawk to the Hudson. If this is 
not correct, then it is a prognostication what it shall, what 



55 

it ought to do at a future time. So much is certain, that it 
is resolved to open the carrying place between the Hudson 
and Wood creek, and to clear the latter from many obstruc- 
tions : several thousand £ have already been consecrated by 
the Legistaturc to this salutary undertaking, while subscrip- 
tions for the deficit have been opened in Albany and New 
York with such a success, that they were filled in a few days 

See here then, my dear sir, an easy communication by 
water carriage opened between the most distant parts of this 
extensive commonwealth; sec the markets of New York, 
Albany and Schenectadi, glutted with the produce of the 
West, and the comforts of the South distributed with a lib- 
eral hand among the agricultures of this new country. The 
fur trade begins already to revive, shall ere long recover her 
former vigor, when the western Forts are surrendered, and 
if it remains shared as it naturally must, by the North 
Western Company, this seeming loss shall be fully compensa- 
ted from other branches, grafted in the wants and interests 
of the Canadians. But this is not all, sir. It is rather the 
breaking out of the sunshine thro' a morning fog in a charm- 
ing summer day. Fort Stanwix must become a staple place 
of the commodities of the West, stored there from the fertile 
lands bordering the lakes and rivers, and Old Fort Schuyler 
nearly the central part of intercourse between the North and 
West, transformed in an opulent mercantile city, where future 
Lorenzos will foster and protect arts and sciences, where the 
tomahawk and scalping knife shall be replaced by the chisel 
and pencil of the artist, and the wigwam by marble palaces. 
Do not think that I dream, Sir ! Fulto Si 'pero, quando si 
vuole. 

Our canals at the Falls, at Fort Stanwix open an early 
communication between the Lakes Outario and Oneida, which 



56 

is possible and can thus be executed, and a large part of the 
work is peracted. Go on then and dig canals through the 
western district, and be not afraid " that a single hair- shall 
be hurt on the head of its inhabitants by the waves of Lake 
Erie," Dare only to undertake the enterprise, and I warrant 
the success, — or do you deem it a more arduous undertaking 
as the canal of Languedoc ? and tins was performed. Do 
not answer 1 beg you — this was the work of the Grand 
Monarque. Have you forgotten the river, the Yssel, the 
fossa Drusiana ? this was the work of a Roman general and 
his army — and are we not, do we not pretend, at least to be 
the most enlightened nation on the globe ? Should then a 
Republican Government, rich in men and in wealth, shrink 
to accomplish what Louis XIV executed ? You were more 
sanguine when you did lead your patriotic eiti/eus against 
the Prussian myrmidons, at the Nieuwersluys, and you are 
too candid, not to acknowledge now, that your hope of suc- 
cess was irretrievably past. Give me the disposal of fift}- 
New York purses, give me only the credit of that city, and 
I shall do what others promised in florid speeches; or, art 
thou apprehensive, that the spell of your enchantment shall 
be broken, give me the Republican wand of Gains Popilius, 
and I will go to the water-nymph Erie and trace a beautiful 
canoe, thro' which her Ladyship shall be compelled to pay a 
part of her tribute to the Ocean through the Genesee Coun- 
try, engaging her a courteous attendance from lakes and 
creeks, to waif on Her Grace during this extorted excursion, 
and Leaving her the consolation of the Dorje of Genoa at the 
French Court " to admire no object but herself," during her 
course through our country to the Hudson River. 

Our agriculture is considerably improved, although much 
is yet wanted before it cau be compared with what is per- 



57 

formed in Europe. Nino tenths of our farmers possess often 
double and treble the land than which they can or pretend to 
cultivate. It is a too generally prevalent system, to be rather 
contented with the crop which the field spontaneously yields 
than to aim at a richer harvest, obtainable by a more indus- 
trious tillage. 

The example of the Pensylvanians, the thousands of New 
England men, who, Hocking- annually in this State, ameli- 
orate our husbandry, improve our stock, and transform our 
woodlands in productive fields, the creation, and if anything 
does — it deserves this name — the creation of an Agricultural 
Society at New York, a similar association at Albany, the 
the offered premiums to the largest produce of maple sugar, 
that blessing of heaven to the back countries, little inferior 
to thi' sugar of the West Indies, the encouraging acts of our 
Legislature in opening new roads, and other beneficial plans 
yet in embryo — all this united had altered our agriculture. 

How could it be any other way, my Dear Sir? There the 
richness of the soil pays tenfold our industy; there the cli- 
mate is temperate, mild, nearly as that in the Netherlands. 
The population is generally in our States, principally in New 
England — in this State, peculiarly in its western parts, baff- 
ling all imagination. A marriage without issue is a rare 
phenomenon — from five to nine is no unusual number of chil- 
reu — often a dozen or more. 

The fertility of our soil, principally in the Western Dia 
drict, where one acre often produces as much as three in any 
other part of the State ; our inland navigation; abundance of 
fish, of fuel, our well regulated State Government, maintain- 
taing everyone by his religious as well as civil rights; admit- 



58 

ting no privileged Church, nor loading an unbelieving herd 
with tapes for its support, have yearly whole shoals of New 
England men or Europeans to settle in this State or Pensyl- 
vania. 

Here the crops but seldom fail ; the long winters so fatal 
in the Southern States, are here seldom injurious, as the snow 
remains till the earth begins to be adorned again with a fresh 
tapestry. Wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, potatoes with every 
kind of garden vegetables and orchard fruits, the water melon 
the cantaloup, the grape not excluded, arrive in the western 
and often in the northern parts of this State to perfection. 

The increasing population, the rag.* of speculation in land, 
by Americans, Dutch, and Englishmen, double actually the 
value of the lands. An acre sold four years since, from 1 to 
6 shillings is now valued at ten. I speak of woodland ; cul- 
tivated farms have risen from £4 to G, and this price is 
doubled in the neighborhood of villages. 

Every family does increase the value of the adjacent uncul- 
tivated lands and five and twenty of the hundred farms, sold 
at, one. dollar iter acre, augment the price of the remaining 7-"> 
to sixteen shillings, while the sale of 25 more, the soil being 
equal, doubles it yet four or five times. 

The western parts of this State, Sir, are now generally 
considered, as its richest and most valuable part, which spurs 
every fore handed man to appropriate a part of it to himself 
or his children. It is nevertheless to be regretted, although 
this hindrance is compensated again by some great advanta- 
ges, that few individuals become owners of such immense 
tracts by which as soon they have made some flourishing estab 
lishments, they are enabled to increase the price of the remain- 



59 

der, arbitrarily ; but here, too, avarice betrays often the pos- 
sessor. The prudent landholder blends the public interests 
with his own, -reaches in both his aim, becomes his benefac- 
tor of a country, which repays him with usury; is their 
father, who are delighted in his welfare and opulence, and 
obliges his country by multiplying its useful citizens, aug 
menting the products of the land, and increasing the wealth 
of the State. 

Justice requires, as I hinted, the disadvantages of a few 
great landholders, owning more acres of land than many 
Princes and Dukes in Germany, that I mention the favour- 
able side of this question. They open generally with enor- 
mous expense, the roads, erect mills, make liberal advances 
to the honest industrious settler, and make his payments 
easy. Besides, a few of these have resolved to settle in the 
wilderness, and allure, by their example, many respectable 
families to press their steps. 

All this shall, 1 hope, dear Sir, convince you that the 
western parts of this State shall be settled within a few 
years, that the actual owners of the land must become inde- 
pendent, and that every industrious family which invests 
her small property in a good farm, if it continues to exert 
itself must, under God's blessing, ere long be at ease and 

alii ue nee. 

I am yours, 

Fr. Ad. Van der Kemp. 
Kingston, 19 July, 1792. 



Kingston, July 27, 1791 

My Dear Sir- — 1 asserted, when I had lately the pleasure 
of seeing you, that 1 did not boast when I assured you in my 
last letter, that the western counties were the best part, and 



60 

would be, ere long, the must potent part of our State in every 
sense of the word ; that it cannot fail, or every judicious land- 
holder in the Western District, who is acquainted with the 
value of his lands, who knows when he may sell, and when 
his interest requires to put a stop to his sale, must acquire a 
considerable fortune within 2"> years; or, that every inde- 
pendent family, which makes a purchase there, and retains 
in reserves surplus, to supply it in the beginning with articles 
of the first necessity, and smooth the ruggeduess of their 
new career, by what the convenience and comfort of a family 
requires, may, within six years, be as much at ease, as in any 
other part of the State, and shall be plentifully rewarded by 
the fruits of their labors, and secure to their children, even 
during the life of their parents, an independent station. I 
might have said which I know could not be an induce- 
ment to you — that seats in both houses of the Legisla- 
ture, offices of honor and trust are of course alloted to men 
of any respctability, if this glitter has auy charms in their 
eye. 

You may recollect, Sir, that when I communicated to you 
my excursion to the western branch of the Delaware. I 
informed you of some particulars relating to the settlements 
of that part of our western world, which drew forth a few 
others with regard to Dutchess and Ulster county. These 
may be subservient to illustrate my assertions in favor of the 
west. The situation of Dutchess, now one of the most popu- 
lous counties, was fifty years past, not more favorable, than 
that of many parts of the Western District at present. Mr. 
Livingston, then clerk of that county, could scarce afford to 
keep a horse from the emoluments of his office, while now 
his annual perquisites exceed £700. 



61 

The families of Livingston, Beekrnan, Van Rensalaer, Van 
Courtland, Schuyler, in one word, all the powerful families of 
this State, merchants excepted, acquired their actual wealth 
and respectability by the purchase of new lands, and their 
judicious settlements on these. I should not have been sur- 
prised, my dear Sir, had a certain respectable family suc- 
ceeded in the purchase of Rosevelt's tract, or we should 
have seen ere long an elegant country seat on the banks of 
Lake Oneida, encircled at some distance, by well cultivated 
farms. You would have, fostered a similar opinion, with this 
difference only, that it would have been generally more favor- 
able as you were, during the last years of your residence in 
Europe, better inured by fatigues than your friend, could you, 
as I did hope, have' accompanied him on this journey. His 
excellency, George Clinton, thought so, and joined our. 
names together in all the letters of recommendation with 
which his kindness honoured me again, as he was wonted to 
do in former excursions. 

1 remained long in suspense before I could resolve in what 
manner 1 should undertake the expedition, either with a 
sloop to Albany, then with a wagon to Schenctadi, and so 
ascend the Mohawk in a Bateau, or with a chair to Schenec- 
tady, or at once on horseback to Fort Stanwix : ease pleaded 
for one of the former, my preference was given to a chair; 
but the impossibility to obtain one here in any way, and the 
apprehension that the sloop and Bateau would require a vast 
deal of time, more than I could have alloted to this excur 
sion, made me at length resolve — although with reluctance, 
to go on horseback. Since 1773, when 1 asked my dismission 
the Dutch cavalry, I had not rode a horse, except in 1778 from 
from Alexandria to Mount Vernon, when I visited General 
Washington. Now it was a journey of nearly two hundred 



62 

miles. But I was resolved; my good neighbor provided me 

with a saddle, and other accoutrements of a cavalier — I risked 
to take one of my own horses — and proceeded slowly on. 
You are acquainted with all these parts so far as the house 
of the widow of Philip Schuyler, so that I cannot communi- 
cate anything deserving your attention. Now and then I ven- 
tured a few rods, but soon permitted the horse to resume his 
easy pace. About noon I had passed the Grooten Imbogt, 
about twenty miles from home, went on after dinner to Catskill, 
and took tea with Mr. Bogardus at the Lauding, which is 
indeed a very agreeable spot. The increasing population of 
the western country gave birth to this little hamlet on the 
North river. Several merchants from New England and 
tins Slate had established themselves ; last year their num- 
ber was augmented to twenty, and this year seventeen new 
buildings, houses and stores, were finished. The situation is 
indeed delightful on the banks of a large creek, and not far 
distant bom the North river, very well adapted for trading 
with the western couutry. 

The soil has nothing extraordinary to recommend it, neither 
was it chosen on this account by the first settlers ; their views 
were further extended; they did foresee, that even barren 
rocks, which by no means is the case, might, under the vivi- 
fying influence of commerce, render these a comfortable hab- 
itation. The inhabitants were chiefly respectable men, while 
the family of Mr. Bogardus peculiarly might have tempted 
you and me to fix our residence on that spot, could we 
have contemplated it, on our arrival from Europe, so as 
it now appears. 

Towards evening, I rode on to Cough Sagie and stopped at 
the house of John Bronk, persuaded after having travelled 



63 

forty miles at the first onset, that I could accomplish my put- 
pose. My supper was but indifferent — tea, bread and 
butter, with a bit of warmed mutton, but in full compensa- 
tion of it, the mistress of the house was very civil. Next 
morning, I went to Albany, where I met with a cordial 
reception from Dr. Marcius, whose hospitality, frankness, and 
amiable character, leave you scarce time to do justice to his 
professional merits. Every instant the decision of the elec- 
tion of a new Governor was expected, and, as the city was 
pretty equally divided between the two illustrious candidates, 
Clinton and Jay, a painful anxiety was legible in every coun 
tenance. At 8 o'clock, it was known with certainty that 
George Clinton was reelected for the sixth time. The joy of 
his friends was more moderate than might been conjectured 
from the ardent zeal with which they had patrocinated this 
high respected statesman, while the friends of Mr. Jay, 
spurred by the noblest motives in promoting his election with 
all their strength, knew too well their interests and duty to 

disturb it. This is the genuine spirit of Republicanism, but 
alas! too seldom listened to. In the morning the sound of 
guns proclaimed the Governors election to the neighborhood. 

On Friday morning, I rode on to Schenectadi, where I 
spent a few hours with the Rev. Romeyn, one of the most 
learned and eminent divines of the Reformed Church in this 
State, beloved by his Hock, respected by the most respectable 
in the State, as a man, a citizen and a Christian preacher. 
He communicated to me many important observations 
with regard to the soil, the stupendously increasing popula- 
tion of the western country, with its vast increasing strength. 
Without Albany, without the commerce of New York, contin- 
ued he pleasantly, the south of the State might soton become an 
appendage to the west. With a lively ecstasy he expatiated 



64 

on all its advantages, and gave me, with his usual accuracy, a 
picturesque description of the various settlements of the 
Mohawk. He praised the luxuriant fields on this river; 
dwelt with delight on the towns of German Flatts and Herki- 
mer; but Schoharie he called a terrestial paradise, and 
described its farmers amongst the wealthiest and happiest 
inhabitants of New York State. He assured me that fifteen 
hundred families passed by his house during the winter of 
'91, to various parts of the western lands; while I was after- 
wards informed by another credible witness, that during the 
winter of '00, within forty miles of the river-point, where 
the rivers of Onondaga, Seneca and Oswego are joined, had 
been counted 240 span oxen. 

I proceeded after dinner about twenty miles further; 
stopped a few moments at the ancient residence of Sir Wil- 
liam, now occupied by Mr. Jacob Cuyler, and remained at 
night on Trip's Hill, at Mr. Putnam's, six miles from Caugh- 
waga. On Saturday morning I breakfasted at Simon Veed- 
er's, Esq., rode on eight miles farther to Bankert's Inn and 
arrived about noon at the mansion of the respectable widow 
of Col. Phil. Schuyler, in Palatine-town. There I met with 
a cordial reception : Mrs. Schuyler appeared most interested 
in the welfare of Mrs. v. d. lv. and our John, who with us 
four years past had been entertained under her hospitable 
roof. 1 was again much pleased with her animated, intelli- 
gent conversation, and gathered more real information from 
a desultory discourse than I might have received from an 
elaborate discussion of a philosopher who had never seen the 
country. She informed me too of the best houses on the 
road. 

After dinner I crossed the Mohawk three miles above Pala 
tine-town, and did see ( 'auajohari, which name, although [ 



65 



cannot now interpret, yet I hope to have it in my powei after 
a while. You recollect that .sample of Canadian song 

Cani-de-jouve, cani-de-jouve, 

He, he, he, he, ha, heura, heura ou ce be, 

In the Diction. </<■ Musique, it" you can explain this, you 
too may give the etymology of" this place. After a ride of 
seven miles further, 1 tarried at a ci-devant Indian castle, 
now a very recommendable inn. kept l>y Mi-. Hudzou, to 
drink a dish of superior good tea. It was my design to pro- 
ceed to Herkimer, as I was informed that I was to meet 
there a good reception, but my good horse was scarce able to 
lift one foot before the other; consider further that this good 
beast, by often going and returning, to examine one or other 
object a little more carefully by always pacing even ou the 
roughest road, was thoroughly fatigued ; that the sun was 
set ; that I was ignorant of the road, and, as you would say, 
not much to be trusted where I knew it; and that, above 
this all, Capt. Bellinger, the landlord of a homely tavern, en- 
deavored to persuade me that I ought to stay with him, 
because, he said, the horse could not proceed farther; that 
to-morrow if he might now recruit, it would make it up with 
a double speed. And then reflecting that the cavalier Longed 
for rest as much as his beast, you cannot be surprised that 
your friend yielded so soon to the urgent entreaties of that 

4r — ^ — *-f-g — — »+a) — * — o-\-0 — m— m —m-\ 



Cani-de-jouve 



cani jouve 



g^N iJ > iiLu mm 



He, he, he, ha, heu 
G 



ra, heura ou ce be. 



66 

noble captain. My supper was not above mediocrit}' ; my 
bed and sleep of the first-rate. The hope of repairing my 
loss of the evening by a good breakfast, made me stir early, 
so that I arrived at eight at Mr. Aldritz, in former days 
another Indian castle. The respectable appearance of the 
landlord and his lady, their dress, countenance, manners, 
language, the. furniture, the neatness of the house, the order 
and promptitude with which the commands were executed, 
soon convinced me that my conjecture would not dwindle 
away in an airy vision. Good bread and butter, excellent 
tea, fresh eggs, with a dish of salmon trout, a sort of Euro- 
pean lorrel, worthy to be presented to the best man in the 
State, were more than sufficient to satisfy a craving hunger. 
Now was I in Herkimer ; crossed again the Mohawk ; 
paced slowly through the German Flatts, a beautiful plain, 
whose rich fertility must strike even the inattentive eye ; 
from the charming fields covered with all sorts of grain : here 
wheat, corn potatoes ; there oats, peas, bailey ; there again 
another variety of the same products, at intervals surrounded 
or separated with clover. These flatts, terminated from one 
side by the Mohawk, from the other by the rising hills, at 
whose bottom the farm houses and churches were constructed, 
maintain many thousand descendants of native Germans, 
who, searching a refuge from infatuated despotism, in this 
land of liberty, have chiefly preserved the maimers, language 
and religion of their ancestors. The same is true with regard 
to their neighbors in German-town and Herkimer — all of 
German origin, somewhat tempered with British, Dutch and 
American blood. 

Col. Staringh was the man by whom I intended to dine 
if it was obtainable. Although his honour was at the same 
time a Judge of the Common Pleas, thus high in civil and mil- 



67 

itary grandeur, yet he kept a public house, and my imagina- 
tion was soon highly inflamed when I glanced on his mansion 
and its appurtenances. The Colonel was gone to the meet- 
ing; his barn was the place of worship. I went thither; the 
assembled congregation was very numerous ; our Lord's 
Supper was celebrated with decency, and as it appears to 
me by many with fervent devotion. Four children were 
baptized by the Rev. Rosekrantz, of the German Flatts, who 
made this pastoral visit to direct these religious solemnities. 
After service the flock crowded promiscuously in the 
Colonel's house and used sparingly some refreshments. The 
large majority gloried at the renewed election of George 
Clinton, while the weighty principle of many was, " Now 
certainly the court house should be fixed there, as they had 
generally given their votes for George, while very many on 
the German Flatts, with the same motive, with the same 
hope, had been lured to vote for Mr. John Jay. So wantonly 
plays the multitude with that for every freeman so precious 
privilege of election : for traveling a mile, more or less, yea 
for thousand times more pitiful if not for more contemptible 
motives is nominal liberty transformed in actual slavery. I 
cannot see it, or I bewail the general state of mankind ! How 
divine is the theory, how difficult, how unattainable nearly 
the solid practice of a pure popular govcrment, except among 
a poor, virtuous class, within its family of brothers, as in 
Switzerland. We, my dear sir, paid dearly for our visionary 
schemes of perfection, and I do not yet regret it, as we found 
here liberty blended by laws, and so much aristocracy ren- 
dered constitutional that neither the one nor the many can 
do wrong for a long time, and so much democracy saved as to 
keep the remainder from degenerating and degrading herself; 
while I deem him a miscreant who abuses this good by 



G8 

name, to spread a cloak over his nefarious, ambitious views 
till be sees the road open to crush the few and the many to- 
gether. May Adams' defence become a general school book, 
and his lessons brought in practice. 

The presence of the Rev. Pastor; the solemnity of the 
sacred festival ; the presence of the fathers of the baptized 
children, some of them related to the Colonel, procured me a 
good dinner. A very good soup, salad, roasted chickens, 
beef and pork, with bread and butter, were soon destroyed 
by fifteen or sixteen hungry guests. The Rev. Rosekrantz 
was born in the Dutch y of the Paltz-Tweebruggen, from a 
respectable family of Swedish origin. Endowed with a 
learned education he was not a stranger in elegant literature ; 
a serious preacher who knew the art to enliven society with 
a well regulated hilarity. 

At nine miles distance, near old Fort Schuyler, I crossed 
the Mohawk River for the last time ; took my tea at Mr. 
John Post's; reached Whitesborough about evening and 
stopped at the house of Judge White, the father of this Hour 
ishing settlement, to whom and Mr. Jonas Piatt, his Ex. 
Geo. Clinton had favored me with letters of introduction. 
I met on the road to Whitesborough a group of Oneida 
Indians, some of them on horseback, others walking and 
jumping; the one with a bottle, another with a jug or small 
keg with rum; for the most part merrily jolly : some deeply 
soaked by the beverage, distilled from the cane. Their num- 
bers increased in proportion as 1 approached nearer Whites 
borough. There 1 saw about two hundred, of every age and 
of both sexes, around their (ires near the road, eating, drink- 
ing, smoking, singing, laughing, all them in perfect har- 
mony together, though many a little before had tried their 
strength and agility upon one another. 



69 

The occasion of this unusual concourse was that they 
came to receive the corn from the State, which had been 
stipulated in one of the articles of the late treaty. But they 
soon changed this corn, certainly for a large part, by the mer- 
chants for money, which they changed again for chintzes 
silk, handkerchiefs, linen, &c. 

How longer and oftener I contemplate these Indian tribes, 
how more I am confirmed in my conjecture, which was sup 
ported by Buffon, " that the northerly inhabitants of Amer- 
ica, as well as a large part of those in the South, chiefly have 
the blood of Tartar origin in their veins." By this 1 will 
not say that none of the offspring of the Aborigines of this 
country are remaining, neither that the inhabitants of some 
j tarts may not be the offspring of savage tribes, driven before 
these Tartarian hordes from their Eastern seats on the con- 
fines of the North-eastern Asiatic shores, no more as I would 
contest, that a few islanders, even Norwegians, might have 
been induced or compelled to settle on the northern parts of 
the American continent. Manners, language, features, render 
it rather plausible : but to conclude for these reasons with 
Grotius, that stupendous wonder of learning, of whom might 
be asserted what Livius said of Cato " that his intellectual 
endowments were so extensive that he excelled in whatever 
he undertook, and seemed to devote himself exclusively to 
that science," that our country was colonized by Norwe- 
gians, and extort arguments from etymology, you might as 
well derive Alfana from Equus* 

* Alfana vient d'Equus, sans doute 
Mais, il faut avouer aussi 
Qu' en venant de la jusqu' iei 
II a bien change sur.la route. 

P. B&nhoar , s Mem. <l< Men /hi hi Dial ll p 173. 



70 

Michaelis may convince you that the ten tribes could not 
have searched here an asylum, and I dare assert that had 
this hypothesis been placed on a solid foundation, there 
would yet exist incontrovertible proofs. Perhaps I may 
glance at this topic at some future day and then you will 
judge with what success. 

T doubt not, my dear Mappa : cr, I shall convince you of 
the plausibility of this cherished hypothesis when I have 
time to collect my arguments — as the Chancellor Livingston 
desired, and put these in battle array among my Philos. Res. 
or the theories of Buffon and Jefferson, and if then I may 
be so successful as to render it probable, that the Gauls, the 
Francks, the Celts, originated all from the same immensely 
prolific bee hive, then nothing is wanting but correct genea- 
logical tables to prove to the first fair squaw — and there are 
handsome ones indeed, if 3 r ou make some small allowances — 
that we are distant cousius. 

The greatest part of the Indians whom I have seen, are 
tall and robust, with strong, well shaped limbs, broad fore- 
heads, the nose somewhat curved, the ears long and broad, 
deformed by art. 

Several of the Oneidas speak the English language very 
correctly, as I am informed and many too write it. Peter 
Otyageit, who delegated to Congress, died this year on his 
journey, had been for some time in France, with the Marquis 
LaFayettc, and was in some respects highly civilized and 
master of the French language and politeness, although it 
was doubted if his heart was as improved as his head ; at 
least he has been accused that he did learn to blend the 
vices of the savages with those of a polished nation. So true 



71 

it appears with regard to those unhappy tribes, that if their 
fathers did eat sour grapes their children's teeth have become 
dull indeed ; and it may be justly questioned if the vicinity 
of their white neighbours is to them not rather a curse than 
a blessing. How contrary is this with the genuine spirit of 
Christianity! but, what chemical operation is powerful 
enough to extract it from Indian traders and straggling 
borderers ? Captain Jacob Reed speaks and writes with 
tolerable accuracy, shows a bold and courageous appearance, 
and dresses as a white man; but now, too, I delineated his 
chief worth. Beech-tree, their chief, had the greatest influ- 
ence on them. 

The cradles of their babes are of a curious workmanship, 
often lined with silver plates, ornamented with wings and 
wrapt in silk. Their principal merchandize are furs, with 
whose value they are thoroughly acquainted. The principal 
are those of Beavers, (Fishers,) Hespans or Racoons, Martins, 
Minks, Musk-rats, Bears and Deer skins. 

Judge White was commissioned to distribute among them, 
the stipulated grain. He is a man between fifty and sixty 
years of age, of a middle stature, corpulent, and of a comely 
appearance. He enjoys now that exquisite gratification of 
being the creator of his oivn fortune, and placing all his 
children in an independent situation. Judge White resided 
in Connecticut in the year 1785. He made a journey to the 
western part of this State ; made a purchase of the laud he 
now lives on ; moved thither in 1786 with his five sons, built 
a log house and barn ; went the next year for his wife and 
remaining children, although there was not at that time one 
single white man in the nine miles around him. In 1788 he 
constructed a saw and grist mill ; possessed in the fourth 



72 

year all which he wanted for his convenience, ease and com- 
fort in abundance ; built in the tilth year a convenient frame 
house and substantial barn, and is now encircled by a number 
of respectable families; amongst these, two of his married 
sons and Mr. Jonas Piatt, son of Judge Zephauiah Piatt, mar- 
ried with Miss K. Livingston, a sister of that eminent divine 
in New York, who yet recollected with a grateful remem- 
brance the time he spent at the Dutch Universities. 

I deem the acquaintance of this young man a real acquisi- 
tion, for which I am again indebted to our friend George 
Clintou. I have often indeed been surprised with admira- 
tion at his knowledge of men, which is a distinguishing trait 
of his character, and in my opinion one of the chief means of 
his political success. His Excellency had a high opinion of 
young Piatt and spoke of him in the most flattering terms. 
This prompted me to observe him and I was not disap- 
pointed. The little intercourse I could enjoy with Mrs. 
Piatt, both being then in a state of anxiety about their only 
infant, which, in my opinion, shall never recover, prompts me 
to say little about her, except that I was highly pleased with 
her courteous and kind reception. T am persuaded I could 
not do her full justice. It is quite otherwise with her hus- 
band. I presume to say T know him, how short our inter- 
course was, and dare assure that if ever thou art favored 
with a similar opportunity, thou wilt love and respect him. 
So much ingenuousness and modesty without bashfulness, 
vantevie ; such obliging manners without importunely ob- 
truding his civilities; such a comprehensive mind; such an 
intuitive solid judgment; all this combined shewed him the 
man, who, sooner or later, must become the pride of the bar, 
the glory of the bench, and a chief ornament of our State, so 
that I really consider the pitiful pittance of his present cler- 



73 

gy-ship, not as a reward, hut a temporary station, in which 
he i.s to hoard up more intellectual treasures; to develop 
these unexpectedly before his fellow-citizens and prepare a 

most delicious repast hy his achievements, for his aged and 
revered patron. 

The society here is already pleasing; so is the situation of 
this little village; more adapted for the enjoyment of rural 
retirement, than luring in a commercial point of view. The 
houses are more built for convenience than for show; the 
roads are daily improving, of which you may form a partial 
opinion from the fact that while 1 was here, Mr. and Mrs. 
Livingston came in their own carriage, in four days, from 
Poughkeep to Whitesborough. 

That I do not exaggerate to render you enamored with 
this charming country, one proof shall be sufficient. By the 
last census the number of souls in Whitestowu, was 5,788 — a 
stupendous number indeed within the small circle of five 
years. In Whitesborough itself there is scarce an acre for 
sale. Dr. Mosely paid for three acres, for a building spot, 
£50 per acre. 

The soil is a fertile, rich loam : from thirty to forty-five 
bushels Indian corn per acre is an ordinary crop; often it 
gives fifty, sixty, and more. In some parts, by long droughts 
the soil is apt to bake and rent, and requires thus more 
labour, shall it be cultivated with propriety and success. One 
of your fee-land farmers would not consider that as a formid- 
able objection, well-knowing that his exertions should be 
doubly compensated. There are here, nevertheless, some to >, 
who are willing to reap, but not in the sweat of their brow. 

II 



74 

The article of fish is scarce ; firewood has already become 
an object of so much importance that it is saved and sold to 
advantage ; and salt cannot be obtained below a dollar the 
bushel, 

I crossed about two miles from Whitesborough the Oris- 
kany Creek, where many of the Oneida Indians resided iu 
former days. The actual proprietors of the soil did long 
decline the sale ; the price was yet too low ; at length it hath 
risen to their pitch. Several farms have already been taken 
up. and the woods resounded when I passed there, from the 
strokes of the hardy axe-men : one year more, and the one 
farm shall be joined to the other, as here on tin. 1 Esoims-kill. 
I had onl}- advanced a few steps when my attention was 
i\xv<\ on a number of skulls, placed in a row, on a log near 
the road. I was informed by the workmen that this place 
was the fatal spot on which the murderous encounter hap - 
pened between General Herkimer and his sturdy associates, 
and the Indians, when this brave and gallant soldier did fall 
with a number of his men. He showed me a large tree, on 
which was coarsely carved, something resembling a man's 
head, which should represent this intrepid warrior. 

On Monday, about noon, I arrived at Fort Stanwix. The 
Baron DeZeng, industriously employed in laying out a 
kitchen garden, had already seen me, and gave me a cordial 
welcome. He then introduced me to Col. Colbreath, a revo- 
lutionary soldier, who fmdiug himself in the patronage of his 
old general, who resided on a part of the estate, which the 
governor possessed in this neighbourhood, he had offered the 
baron a part of his house till that of DeZeng should be cleared 
of its present inhabitants. We partook of some refresh 
ments— my horse was brought on a luxuriant pasture ground. 



See there me, my dear sir, at the famous Fort Stanwix, 
where Janzevoort baffled the impetuous ardour of the British 
and Col. Willet eluded their vigilance. See here me in the 
centre of New York State, the elevated spot from where the 
waters are flowing to the East and the West, chalked out, as 
it were by nature, to become the seat of government of this 
mighty State, while Fort Schuyler must gradually rise to 
the rank of the emporium of the West. Here is the [retreat] 
from the bustle of business, while the opulence and wealth is 
through various channels conducted to this great reservoir, to 
repay the inhabitants of its neighbourhood with those of the 
remotest North and West with ease ami comfort; there mag 
niticent buildings raised and a seat prepared for arts and 
sciences. 

The Baron DeZeng, a German nobleman, descends from a 
noble family in Saxony, and arrived in America during the 
revolutionary war. He was married to a respectable lady in 
New York, and did now intend to begin a settlement in this 
vicinity. He had engaged to accompany me on this tour, 
and I expected, as I really experienced, that he not only 
should be an agreeable companion, but very useful to me in 
many respects. 

The baron was so kind, to charge himself to purchase a 
grand canoe, engage two servants, and procure the required 
provisions for our voyage. As he had before rowed through 
tins wilderness he knew best what was wanting to lessen 
the hardships of a similar enterprise; and 1 must do him the 
justice, that he left nothing untried to procure every article 
which might render our journey more agreeable. A well 
made tent with a good carpet stood foremost on the list, and 
his spouse took care that a sufficient quantity of bread and 



76 

bincuit was prepared. While all this was brought in readi- 
ness, I had the satisfaction to explore the country ; examine 
the woods with the contemplated slate for the canal, to join 
the Mohawk with the Wood creek, and convince myself of its 
practicability. But this is only the dwarf, fixing his eyes 
upward to the gigantic canal, yet in embryo. The soils dif- 
fer little from that of Whitestown, except the summit of the 
highland, on which the fort is erected, generally not less fer- 
tile, often too rich for wheat, as the first crop; not free from 
baking-; several feet deep of the same unadulterated mould 
as the uppermost layer. By digging ten and twelve led 
often deeper, leaves, perfectly preserved, branches of trees, 
large pieces of timber, are discovered. I did see several sam- 
ples of all these, when a well was dug for ( !ol. < Jolbreath. Elm, 
ash, beech, heavy oak and walnut are in the upper part : on 
the lower ground, chiefly beech, maple and birch. As no 
apparent obstruction is visible, the canal may be executed 
nearly in a straight line 

Scarce a day passed in which not two, sometimes three, 
bateaux arrived, whose destination was towards the Genesee 
lands, Onondaga, Cadaraqui, or other parts of the Western 
District. We met daily with groups of five or six men on 
horseback, in search for land, with intention, if succeeding, to 
move on with their families the next winter or following 
spring; while every da)' one or other accosted us, to purchase 
lands of which we did not own one single inch. 

During the time I tarried here, a large bateau with furs, 
arrived from the West; two yoke of oxen carried it over the 
portage. This was the second cargo within one week. It 
may be conjectured from this single example what riches 
the waters of Oneida Lake may carry on to Koit Stanwix, if 



77 

every obstruction shall be removed. Now it makes a fortune 
to individuals ; then it shall become as productive to the 
Nation as a gold mine. 

We waited another day in the hope of a few refreshments, 
which I had procured at Schenectadi ; but at length our 
patience being exhausted, although DoZeng was possessed of 
a dee]) fund of it, nearly equal to that of your friend, we 
walked on Saturday towards Wood creek; saw our baggage 
stowed ; stepped in the canoe and pushed off 

Do you recollect, Mappa, how Remus vexed his brother 
Romulus, by springing over the ditches with which he had 
encircled the future mistress of the world ? Here certainly 
might he have indulged his whim with less peril. No 
Oneida Indian; no valiant American would have considered 
his country insulted by this process. The Wood creek, 
indeed, resembles at the landing place, rather an insignificant 
ditch than well a navigable stream. Ere long it is, never- 
theless, enlarged, and resembles very much the numberless 
inland waters by which our ci-devant Fatherland was inter- 
sected. We arrived at the distance of three miles at Fort 
Bull, or rather, at the place on which, during the war, a fort 
of that name was erected. The same fact I found after veri- 
fied, viz: places designated by names originating from forti- 
fications, constructed during the late French or the Revolu- 
tionary war. 

As we indulged ourselves from time to time, in angling, we 
hooked a few trout and several large chubs, without reflect- 
ing that the sun was setting; our lusty boys waded continu- 
ally t<> drag our deeply loaded canoe over rifts and shoals. 
At once the air was darkened, which was rendered of a 
deeper hue by the streams of lightning with which it was on 



78 

a sudden as embroidered ; severe peals of thunder re-echoed 
through the woods, and the increasing darkness became now 
visible. The boys were discouraged : DeZeng sprang at once 
out the canoe and inspired them with fresh courage, and 
your friend ? I trusted in their experience, and hoped their 
trial would be a short one; and then they might rest from 
their labours, while the Baron ought to pay some price of 
not possessing his soul in equal patience. 

Now we proceeded quickly and discovered after a few 
minutes a light in a small cottage. It was that of the widow 
Armstrong, on the corner of the Wood and Canada creek, 
seven miles from Fort Stanwix, the part of land where Rose- 
vrld's purchase begins, with which you and some of my best 
friends desire to become acquainted, and which, if 1 am not 
mistaken and disappointed in my wishes, may be once a 
goodly heritage, under God's Almighty blessing, for us and 
our children. 

As we are now engaged in drying our clothes by a good 
tire, and Mrs. Armstrong is preparing our supper and couches, 
1 must allow you a little rest before I offer you my rough 
sketch of the skirts of that noble tract, once the heritage of 
the Oneidas, now the object of ardent longings of Americans 
and foreigners, who, by every licit and illicit means, by ex- 
travagant praises and unfounded slanders, endeavour to 
secure this possession to themselves; while some squatters 
have iixed themselves lien- and there on its borders; a tract 
which, in population and wealth, must vie in time with any 
part of the Western District. 

I am, yours sincerely. 



79 
Kingston, 1st August, 1792. 

My Dear Sir — Yon followed our steps, sir, through the 
meandering Wood creek, to the spot where the Canada creek 
empties in it, the residence of Mrs. Armstrong, thus far the 
hospitable patroness of that insulated spot. I really hope, 
my dear sir, that you may have been able to keep your 
attention awake, otherwise it must become ;i more than her- 
culean labour to drive the sleep from your eyes !>y a dry 
topographical description. I really am apprehensive that the 
wish of getting rich by the purchase of a few hundred thou 
sand acres of this land cannot make a sufficiently deep 
impression on your disinterestedness, even if your purse was 
in unison with such a wish. I hope at all events it shall not 
exceed a slumbering, not heavier than mine on horseback, 
awakening the instant when I was leaning half-way from 
the saddle : and in that case 1 am not without hope, or the 
fall of a heavy oak, the report of our guns, our cries of joy on 
a caught prey offish or deer, the lamentations and curses of 
our crew, and vwvy real or imaginary danger, shall break off 
the spell of the enchantment of some fair or malignant sor- 
ceress, and permit you to contemplate the residence of the 
beautiful Oneida Lake with admiration. 

H is a general observation with regard to this world, and I 
am yet wavering to decide if the name of New or Old is the 
most appropriate, that the most barren tracts are every- 
where near the sea coast ; that the most populous part of the 
fifteen States, which have been settled in the beginning, can- 
not be compared with the extensive fertile fields of the West 
and that their natural productiveness and riches are increas- 
ing m proportion that you penetrate deeper in the interior. 
Every traveller confirms this truth ; and every new settlement 



80 

affords so many incontestable proofs from the unusual produce 
of the fields as well as by the sudden increase of the lands, 
to confirm these reports. 

No man dared yet to contest this truth, except a few Ger- 
man inhabitants, on the rich borders of the Mohawk before 
the Revolutionary war, believing, in which they were con- 
firmed by the cunning artifices of their great landholders and 
crafty politicians, that their Paradise was surrounded by 
unsurmountable barriers, being no habitable spot above 
< lan&johari, impenetrable except by a savage's foot, except 
by British Canadians, who dreaded the neighbourship 
of Americans, except land-jobbers aiming at a cheap purchase 
l»y artfully underrating the land. 

The tract with which I would make you better acquainted, 
was purchased two years past, from the Six Nations, and 
begins at the Wood creek, where that of the Canada creek 
joins it. It has to the north-east Funda's purchase; to tin- 
south and south-west the Oneida reservation, the military 
lands, now beginning to be settled; to the north-west Lake 
Ontario; to the north the Great Salmon creek, from which it 
touches again Funda's purchase, in a north-eastern course. 
See here, then, the rough circumference of 700,000 acres. 
Consider, my dear sir, if I might err somewhat in a due 
course, and take the east for the west, that I am yet in the 
infancy of my geological expedition, and am ready to say 
Peccavi, Pater ; not, however, in that bewitching tone I heard 
you sing " Mon pere je devient vant vous." To prevent gross 
mistakes, and secure you of forming an erroneous opinion of 
my sentiments, I send you with this a pretty correct map, 
which, with the assistance of that of Gov. Pownall, may learn 
you in how far I was successful. 



81 

A simple statement of courses is sufficient to lay open the 
water communication with all the circumjacent lands ; by 
the Wood creek to the Mohawk eastward, and so on to the 
North river, through the Seneca river, south-west of the 
Oneida Lake to the Genesee lands, whose settlements are 
daily increasing; through the Onondaga and Oswego rivers, 
in Lake Ontario, through the St. Lawrence and the North 
river in the Ocean. Consider now further, sir, that the dis- 
tance of Fort Brewerton at the west end of Oneida Lake, 
near the mouth of the Onondaga river, is, in a straight line, 
only eight miles from the Little Salmon creek aud twelve 
from the great two principal landing places on Lake Ontario, 
and the distance from the centre of the lake near Bruce's 
creek is, in a straight course, no more than twelve miles to 
the same spot. 

The land is there not much broken, with few stones or 
rocks, so that few hands, as soon as the trees are chopped, 
might make a tolerable good road from the one lake to the 
other This land-carriage is of a vast, additional value; but 
no man can have seen the shape of the land and examined 
the Salmon creek from Lake Ontario, aud Bruce's creek from 
Oneida Lake, in their courses, and doubt yet the high proba 
bility of a water communication, of a short distance, between 
these two lakes. Join to all this — and this, my dear sir, is an 
encouraging observation — that the circumjacent tracts, as the 
Genesee lands to the south, Funda's, Steuben Oothout's 
patent, are already partially settled, and continue to increase 
in inhabitants, while the lots in the military lands are 
increasing daily in value. 

Is this not already a great deal, my friend ? 1 know you 
consider it from this point of view, and are already anticipate 

I 



82 

ing the time, that stores and magazines, villages and country 
Mats arc adorning the borders of Oneida Lake; and yet : how 
great this is, it is not all. Throw, I beg you, for a moment, 
a ciusory glance on the situation of this tract. 1 ought to 
have said : come and see, and believe. Towards the south 
you have Oneida Lake: that of Ontario to the north ; both 
joined by the Onondaga and Oswego fixers, and in these 
disembogue, besides a number of smaller creeks : the Wood 
creek, the Oneida creek, the Canada creek, the Fish creek. 
the Little Fish creek, the Black creek, Bruce's creek, the large 
and smaller Salmon river, and what is called the Fresh Lob- 
ster creek, from the numbers we caught here of this delicious 
crustaceous fish, even superior to the sea lobster, and as 
exquisite a dainty as those in Guelderland and the Duchy of 
( ieves. which afford there such a sumptuous and palatable 
dish to the modern descendant of Apicius. 

Both Salmon rivers emptying in Lake Ontario, to the 
north of this tract of land and the Fish creek in Oneida 
Lake, are in the spring and fall, full of salmon. You may 
form of this assertion, a pretty accurate opinion, after I have 
informed you that one Oneida Indian took with his spear, 
f-jrty-tive salmon in one hour; another, in the presence of 
('apt. Simonds, sixty-five during one night; and another 
eighty. They are equal to the best which are caught in the 
rivers of t lie Rhine and the Meuse, and might, if the time of 
fishing was limited by the Legislature, and what is more, its 
laws punctually obeyed and executed with rigor, become as 
beneficial to our country at large, as the salmon fishery of 
the Meuse, in Holland, from which the Fast and West Indies 
are supplied with this luxurious fish. Were the method of 
catching the salmon in luyks and smoking these intro- 
duced, as I advised several, with the offer of initiating them in 



83 

this mystery, Oneida Lake, with its tributary streams, mighl 
supply an abundant provision for all the States, the West 
Indian market, that of South America included. 

Persuaded of this truth, I wrote to our Dutch friends and 
obtained through my old Hon. friend,]). Eerbach, from a mer- 
cantile house at Schoenheren, the staple place as you know 
of this commodity, an accurate description of the mode ol 
catching, curing, smoking, through the whole process, and 
offered its communication to Mr. Stevens, at Fort Brewerton, 
and others, but it was not accepted — too much trouble ! too 
distant! too uncertain the prospect of gain ! no control ovei 
the Indian brethren! no encouragement by the Legislature- 
I do, nevertheless, not yet despair or a happier period shall 
arrive. 

The eel of the Oneida Lake is equal to the best of the Hol- 
land market, and far :urpasses every kind which 1 have evei 
tasted here, in size, in fatness, in tenderness of the fish. The 
Salmon river possesses beside this plentifulness of the finny 
cribe, another important advantage — our full laden bateaux 
may have access and recess to both. What a, potent 
lure, merchant! to Canadians, who now must purchase many 
articles at three and four times the capital higher from 
Quebec, than they may obtain these from the State of New 
York, They who pay at Cataraqui $3, and $3| at Niagara 
for one bushel salt, are often supplied with it at the Salmon 
creek, for five shillings, although even at Whitestown, Fort 
Stanwix and its vicinity, often is paid from eight to ten shil- 
lings. Here, too, in time, the price shall be lower : cut only 
canals, increase the salt work, and manufacture it to a, higher 
degree of perfection. 



84 

A bountiful God has, in this respect, too, provided for the 
wants of the western country with profusion. Everywhere 
are salt springs, and but few miles from Oneida Lake in Onon- 
dago is a copious salt lake, encircled with salt springs, the 
domain of the people of the State of New York. A consid- 
erable quantity is already transported to Canada, and thou- 
sand American families make never use of any other. How 
the copiousness must be increased when rock salt too is 
manufactured and carried to the South and West of our im- 
mense continent. How exuberant must it become, when that 
limestone crust through whose crevices it is now ascending 
shall be broken, and that vast body of solid salt discovered 
from which now a thousand springs through ages have been 
saturated. You perceive that I believe in the real existence of 
this subterraneous treasure, which, I presume, may be discov- 
ered without Jacques Aymar's Baguette, Divinatoire, and 1 
have no less name than that of Leibnitz to procure credit to my 
supposition. He said, in his Protogea, "Sub terra, essecondi- 
toria salis, satis fontes aquarum salsarum doceat," which, as you 
have often heard, when in Holland, faithfully translated in 
our English language, is, " that there are repositories of sail 
under the earth, is evident from the salt water springs ;" but 
Home, says the proverb, was not, built in one day. What a 
time elapsed before the Chestershire salt springs were of any 
advantage ! What a time elapsed before the basket salt was 
brought to market, and how late was it that the rock salt 
was there discovered, from which now considerable quantities 
dug in large masses are now transferred to the west coast of 
England — melted in sea water, and again reduced in salt and 
used in the curing of herrings ; and how much must the value 
of this treasure be enhanced when the discovered coal mines 
are placed in the west at its side. 



85 

This country, so abundant in water and fish, is, if possible, 
yet more profusely endowed by our bountiful Maker with 
wood. Every kind of timber of the northern and eastern 
States, is hero in the greatest plenty and perfection : butter 
nut, walnut, white oak, sugar maple, chestnut, beech, black 
ash, pine, hemlock, the lime tree, white wood or canoes wood , 
and several other species. When I asserted that the most 
part of these were to be found in the highest* perfection, 1 
always limit it to our States, as our timber is unquestionably 
inferior to that which is carried to the Dutch markets from 
the interior parts of Germany and the Baltic. Oak, pine and 
chestnut are chiefly found at short distances from the lakes — 
the remainder in a more fertile soil at some greater distance, 
the hemlock, fir and pine on more barren spots. 

The canals cannot be opened or the value of the timber 
must be raised. You know the scarcity of white oak and 
pine on several points of the North river and Mohawk, so 
that they are scarce sufficient to supply the first wants of the 
inhabitants, who an; often compelled to employ timber of an 
inferior kind. I might enlarge on the blessings of the hard 
maple, without which the new settlers would be bereft ol 
the comforts of life — sugar, molasses, vinegar were you not 
thoroughly acquainted with the inestimable value of this 
precious tree. 

It is true, my dear sir, a good soil, good water, and plenty 
of wood for fuel and timber are strong inducements to settle 
in a new country — more so, when the price of all this is en 
hanced by the prospect of a good market in the neighbour 
hood; but if thou art there nearly alone without neighbours, 
if from the vicinity you obtain nothing even for ready cash, 
if, as is the situation ol the largest number who transport 



86 

their families in the woods — their all consists in an axe, a 
plow, a wheel, a frying-pen, kettle, bed and pillow, with a 
scanty provision of Hour, potatoes and salt pork — then what ' 
then, my dear air, something else besides is required not to 
suffer during the first season. It is true a little wheat is 
often saved in the fall, a small spot cleared to plant in the 
spring corn and potatoes, while they live in the hope, if their 
health is spared, to prepare the soil for sowing flax-seed ; hut 
something more yet is required to the maintenance of a 
numerous hungry family, and in this respect, too, Providence 
has in this district graciously provided even to satiety 
Neve)- did 1 see yet a country where all kind of fish was so 
abundant and good. Tt may beequaled, it cannot be excelled 
1 tasted, within a short time, of more than a dozen different 
species, the one contending with the other for the pre-emi- 
nence, the least of these affording a palatable food, salmon 
pike, pickerel, cattish, if well prepared, boiled or stewed 
resembling the taste of the delicious turbot, Otzwego bass, an 
epicurean morsel, yellow 'perch, sun fish, I rial, (chub,) three 
species of trout, river lobsters, turtle, sword fish and a green 
coloured fish of an exquisite taste, white fish, &c. 

r J ne salmon is generally salted and sold at £4 the barrel ; 
cat fish at £4 and X,l 10; the eel is smoked, and with tie 
two preceding soils, preserved for the winter provision ; 
others are consumed fresh. Hundreds of gull eggs may be 
gathered on the islands. Ducks and geese visit annually the 
"lakes and creeks in large flocks; the swan is but seldom seen 
in this vicinity — while bears and deer are roving in the 
neighbourhood of every cottage. It is enough to set out a few 
lines at evening; to make now and then an excursion to the 
woods without sacrificing much of his time, that a settler may 
suppky his family with meat and fish during live or six months. 



87 

This is the country in which I could wish that our families 
were transplanted, with a few industrious families around us, 
whom we could assist and be mutually aided liy them. Here 
we might soon forget the bustle of the great world, might 
secure our happiness if we can curb our affections, and leave' 
a handsome inheritance to our children. But He who directs 
all human affairs for the best shall direct our steps. 

Do not suspect that 1 placed too much trust in general 
favourable reports. Follow me and we will take ocular 
inspection of the land. 

( >n Sunday morning we bid adieu to the good widow, who 
left nothing undone which was in her power to render her 
homely cottage comfortable to us. About three miles from 
her bouse, a small, swift-running stream emptied its waters 
in the Wood creek from the south. From thence we pro- 
ceeded to a place called Oak Orchard, situated at the same 
side We arrived ere long at a singular neck of land about 
a mile in length, and so small, that by standing, we discovered 
the water at the opposite side. This was a tedious circum- 
navigation indeed. We might have, passed it in a few seconds 
if a passage had been cut through it. 

Not far from this spot we discovered a clearing, extended 
towards the Fish creek, or Oneida river — known by the 
name of Capt. Philips' and Dean's improvements. We left 
our canoe now and then to look at the land ; it was low and 
Hat near the borders of the creek, and had the appearance of 
being annually overflowed. The muddy sediments placed il 
beyond doubt ; the luxuriant foliage of the stately trees did 
leave no room to suspect that the land might not be trans- 
formed in verdant meadows and grass lands ; at some distance 



88 

the land became gradually more elevated, and was adorned 
with oak, beech, maple. 

The approaching night compelled us to look out for a con- 
venient spot for our encampment, in which we soon succeeded. 
Our tent was pitched, and a blazing fire prepared by the 
boys. We spread our carpet, and made our beds ready, wait- 
ing for our supper. Here thousands of muskitoes welcomed 
us in their abode, obtruded their company, and exhausted 
our patience by their treacherous caresses, in which they 
continued till wo had encircled our tent with smoke, and 
yet we heard their singing, but quite different form Pergo- 
Lase's SI dixit Mater. 

We covered our faces with a veil before we went to sleep 
This was the first time in my life I slept in the woods, and 
yet my sleep was sound, but short and not very refreshing, 
as 1 awoke fatigued, and was not at ease, till I drove the 
sleep from the eyes of all my companions, and had hurried 
them to the canoe to pursue our journey. 

We did so, and had scarce proceeded a mile, when the 
Wood creek, increasing imperceptibly in breadth, lost the 
appearance of a ditch, and appeared a handsome river, but 
how charming was the sight ! how delightfully was I sur- 
prised, when I did see it, unexpectedly, enlarged to more 
than double its breadth, and our frail vessel, if a hollow tree 
may be decorated with this pompous name, in its noddle. 
This sensation, however, was only momentaneous. It was suc- 
ceeded by another of a different stamp, which I could not 
suppress, although I endeavored to conquer it. You know, 
that in days of yore, presumption was rather my fault than 
fear, and here 1 could not have dreamed that it lurked in my 
breast — and yet I longed to be somewhat nearer the banks 



89 

with our canoe; but the sight of dangei is as fleeting, when 
we dare to look sternly at it, and arc willing to brave it, as 
that of a careless security is blending our sight, when we 
heedless rush on in an untrodden road. 1 soon perceived 
that we were now as safe as in the Wood creek, and it was 
a delight to observe how this river doubled its speed to pay 
its tribute to the lake. Now we hurried on, and encouraged 
our raw and unexpert hands to row on with alacrity, as we 
longed impatiently to see this vast expansion of water. Our 
wishes were ere long gratified. We stopped our course 
about nine o'clock, unloaded our canoe, pitched our tent, and 
brought firewood together, that we might have full leisure to 
contemplate this beautiful lake. 

DeZeng left me with the canoe and one hand to take a 
short exclusion on the Oneida creek, to the south side of the 
lake, to fetch some implements, left there the year before by 
on i>, Peter Frey. 

This Peter Frey, bom in Germany, lives since twenty 
years among the Oneida Indians, and gained their confidence 
in such a degree that they use him in any affairs of conse- 
quence, and consider him as the most honest white man with 
whom they have been acquainted. True it is, that he takes 
care of their interests with a fidelity and ardour, bordering 
on enthusiasm, which is but seldom met with. He is pecu- 
liarly entrusted with the management of the affairs of a Colo- 
nel Lewis, who served in the Revolutionary army, and was 
rewarded by the State with a bounty in land. 

The Oneida and Onondago Indians cultivate many hun- 
dreds choice apple trees from which they liberally distribute 
the fruits among their white neighbours, and provide them 
K 



90 

with grafts and young trees, if they are inclined to settle 
in their vicinity. 

While Major DeZeng continued his course in exploring the 
Canada creek, I took a walk along the eastern sandy shore 
of this charming lake, and examined its northern salient 
angles, of which the first was four, the next about nine miles 
distant, in this circuit from the mouth of Wood creek. The 
woods on the south shore are over-shadowed l>y a chain of, 
mountains, from east to west, curiously diversified by three 
elevations, which by their undulations in a serpentine line 
altered the horizon in a most delightful manner. The small 
islands in the lake could be distinguished, and zephyr ruffled 
the silver waves. Within a few moments I saw three canoes, 
one with Indians, among whom ('apt. Jacob Heed, and one 
bateau from the south and west, while two bateaux with four 
families, from the Fish creek, landed a, little below our 
encampment. 

The soil is a barren sand ; the trees near the shore dwarf- 
ish and of little value. At first, when I entered the woods, 
1 met with a swampy ground, but further proceeding, a good 
loam, increasing in depth and richness as I went on. Oak, 
fir, pine, water-ash, then oak, beech and maple, are the prin- 
cipal timber. 

The baron returned about twelve, with two most capital 
eels, presented him by an Oneida — Good Peter, who had been 
hired by him the. last year to follow him on a similar expe- 
dition as that in which we now were engaged. 

Having loitered here away the afternoon in examining 
shells and stones, and plants and shrubs, we pursued our 
course the next morning; then rowing, then using the setting 



01 

poles along the shore, till we reached the point from which 
its northerly side maybe calculated. From here the shore 
was generally covered with pebbles. A small creek, called 
by the Indians who were with us Little Fish creek, falls 
here in the lake. At the coast side, near the lake, the pine, 
oak and hemlock elevate their heads, and overshadow an 
extensive tract of tolerable good land, although it does not 
assume this appearance, as at some distance from the lake, 
where they are intermixed, often outnumbered, by bash 
wood, ash, white wood, chestnut and sugar maple. To the 
west side of this creek is a large tract of oaks, a grey sandy 
soil ; a little further it is covered with a thin loam, there the 
oaks become mingled with beech, ere long with butternut 
and maple, then ash, walnut, maple and beech, in a rich loam 
from six to eighteen inches deep, increasing by every step 
which you advance to the interior. 

We had now lost a great part of two days in fishing, with- 
out an adequate reward to our- exertions, and might have 
suspected that the exuberant abundance of this lake in fish, 
of which we had heard so much boasting from white men :is 
well as Imlians, had been exaggerated, but we soon discov- 
covered the cause of our failure, while the Indians and rov- 
ing Americans confirmed us in our opinion. The lake was 
now covered as with a white cloak of hundred thousands 
millions of insects which we call Haft in Holland, and which 
lay in some parts of the shore one and two inches deep. 
This insect appears here annually at a stated period, although 
somevvhat earlier than in Holland. The eggs are hatched in 
the surface of the water, the winged insect tlutters a short 
time in the air, and is buried after a short life in its watery 
grave, to supply the finny tribe a rich repast, from which 
man reaps in his turn the advantages My imagination 



92 

warmed and exalted by the present scenes, brought me in a 
twinkling of the eye on the Meuse, and I ordered the row- 
ers to steer to the Stone Chan, her, (Steene-kamer) to regale 
myself with that delicious and so handsomely shaped fish, the 
roach, which preys upon this insect, and is never called for by 
the lovers of a good fare, except in these few days. A decent 
public house at the mouth of the Wood creek, might here 
replace the Steene-kamer, and the landlord might regale his 
guests in a more luxurious manner. The water plants, with 
their broad, oval leaves, and their yellow and white flowers, 
continued the illusion. It wanted only to complete its suc- 
cess, a few bottles of Old Mozel wine. 

It was infallible, my dear friend, as I spent in my youth 
so many delicious hours on the Meuse, when I often staid 
several weeks in its vicinity, or this remembrance contributed 
to exhilarate my soul, enraptured with the charms of the 
spot, with the contemplation of the wonders which a bounti- 
ful God spread over the face of the earth, and might to be 
traced in every step. 

We were, a little after sunset, surprised at a number of 
fires in a semi-circular form on the lake. I numbered nine 
others several more. These were made by the < meida 
Indians spearing eel. They are usually two or three in a 
canoe, one steerman, one who spears in the bow, the third 
takes care of the fire, made from dry, easily flaming wood, in 
a hollow piece of bark, first covered with sand. This brings 
me again to the Meuse, to see the fuyks setting for tin' salmon 
fishery, or emptying these from their captures, when some 
are saved, others, as you know, intended for fat salmon, 
receive their immediate doom, being knocked on the fore 
part of the head, which they term huyzen. How the fisher- 



93 

man laughs at the fruitless endeavour of the inexpert youth 
to kill the salmon; he performs it always with one, and well 
a soft stroke. 

We proceeded on our course, and arrived, at no great dis- 
tance, to another, but much smaller creek, emptying its waters 
in a pretty bay ; here was the land to some extent towards 
the lake low, and could only be appropriated for pasture or hay 
land ; but it gradually ascended about 20 feet, where it was 
covered with a deep, black, rich, fertile soil, mixed with a 
small portion of black sand, and covered with majestic oak, 
beech, butternut, walnut, ash and maple. Here the prospect 
was admirable indeed. Imagine, my dear sir, and yours is 
lovely enough, imagine that falling plain near the lake, 
cleared from trees and stumps, and covered with verdure, 
embellished with a dozen of cows, justly as you contemplated 
in the days of yore, in the rich pastures of the South Rhine 
and Delfsland, the lake in front, a wood to the south, at the 
other side behind it, the Canoserago mountain, the small 
rambling creek to the east, and to the west the islands in 
the lake in perspective, while behind you the noblest fields 
invite you to admire the rich produce of the soil, equal to the 
best tilled in our country. 

Major DeZeng walked slowly with his gun on shore. 

With head upraised and look intent. 
And eye and ear attentive bent, 

while we rowed on ; he gave us a signal ; we pushed to the 
shore ; he told us that he saw a bear on the next point ; in 
an instant we left the canoe and dispatched our boys, well 
armed, in the woods, to cut off* his retreat; DeZeng ami I 
advauced in his front from the lake side ; when within a pistol 
shot of this surly lord of the woods, be stood still, trotted on 



94 

a few steps and received a shot, from the woods which broke 
his left hind leg, another glanced his brawny side. DeZeng 
missed his aim, and while 1 stepped forward witli the cocked 
gun, DeZeng, throwing his gun aside, sprung impetuously 
forward with the tomahawk in his hand, attacked him in 
front and knocked him on the head twice; bruin lifted up 
his paw, twice he opened his mouth, at last stagg'ringhe falls, 
in blood and foam expires ; we dragged him with difficulty 
towards the canoe, as he was indeed of a monstrous siz< j , 
lifted him in it, and returned by land to the little creek, 
while our men rowed towards the same spot. Here we 
resolved to make our encampment for that night; in the 
morning it proved to be the most delightful spot which we 
had yet seen. 

Methinks, my dear sir, you must now be pretty tired with 
reading ; take, then, what repose. The bow cannot be always 
bent ; we are making our preparations lor the same end, while 
our boys are opening the hear early in the morning. They 
shall take off his hide to preserve it our trophy, fasten his 
limbs to the trees for the- first passenger, man or other beast 
of prey, and prepare for our breakfast a lew slices roasted, 
with a small piece for soup at dinner. 

Adio. Yours. 



Kingston, 1st August, 1792, 

My Deak Str — If you never tasted it, you might have 
declined to share in our breakfast. Stewed slices of surly 
bruin, was the principal dish. It was not to his advantage, 
that, though bulky enough, he was not fat; otherwise you 
must know, that in the country not only everywhere, but 



95 

even to the fastidious palate of many polished New Yorkers, 
it is a dainty, and this meat deserved indeed this high praise, 
if you obtain it in its season in perfection. With all this, I 
should not be surprised at all that you hail rather preferred 
a pike of three feet and six inches, which we discovered on 
shore — his belly torn open, without entrails — if we had 
caught it. I doubt not or he fell a prey to a bald eagle, who 
by some accident was prevented to destroy him. 

We entered once more our canoe ; discovered two bateaux 
steering towards the south, and arrived about noon at the 
Black creek, the largest at this side of the lake, after the 
Fish creek or Oneida river; here we dined on an excellent 
rice sou]), from one of Brown's gammons, which we had saved. 
Here was a broad piece of fore-land, watered by this creek, 
and about a hundred rods further on another creek, sufficient 
to turn a wheel, joined it The upland was excessive steep, 
high and barren; the soil, tine yellow sand; the trees, fir, 
hemlock, pine, and a few oak. At some distance the land 
gradually descended, the soil became richer and the timber 
was improving; oak, ash, yet further butternut, beech, 
maple, and again the same rich black soil, not subject of 
being so soon exhausted or baked in intensive hot weather, 
as the Whitestown loam. 

We continued our course after dinner along the shore, and 
hoped that we might reach the Fisher's bay, in which the 
little creek empties herself, whose vicinity was highly 
extolled by DeZeng, with an unbounded praise, and yet his 
description did not appear to me, after a cool examination, to 
be too highly coloured. 

It was late before we reflected upon it, and a rising thunder 
storm urged us to take quickly hold of all our oars. I ought 



96 

to have said pagays, as we were in a canoe. We did 
run, by our hurrying too fast, and through the inatten- 
tion of our man at the helm, with our canoe on a huge stone, 
without having it in our power for a long while to move it 
backward or forward ; at length we got again afloat, and 
arrived safe in the creek at Mr. Brace's, in former days a 
Connecticut merchant, now an independent inhabitant of 
the Oneida Lake, maintaining himself by the chase and fish- 
ery, and what he earned from a small potatoe spot. He 
fetched directly upon our arrival, a fine catfish, from a reser- 
voir, constructed from saplings and twigs, so well twisted 
that no escape was possible. He praised himself not a little 
on his invention, as this magazine supplied his wants by 
foul weather, or, as he said, " when Bruce was too lazy to go 
in quest for other food;" and who would have been willing 
to poison this complacency, or withhold the tribute to his 
ingenuity, which was really exerted in no ordinary way in 
this and other similar circu instances, when his powers of 
action were circumscribed within such a narrow sphere! 
Was not Csesar himself delighted with the success of his 
invention, as when he constructed that wonderful bridge 
over the Rhine, which he crossed with his army, to penetrate 
into Germany, and of which he seemed pleased, to leave us 
such a minute description ; and Bruce, poor as he now was, 
had a pretty high opinion of himself, seemed not to wish to 
repass the Mohawk, and, if not sua se virtute involvens, con- 
sidering himself as the best man, appeared at least to enjoy 
ease aud contentment — he was a Bruce ! 

This catfish weighed ten pounds ; we obtained afterwards 
one of twenty-four pounds. Some have been taken of forty 
and forty-five weight ; but those of the largest size are chiefly 
brought from Lake Ontario. When Bruce had prepared him, 



97 

ae showed us a handful fat, as yellow as gold. It was indeed 
a delicious repast for our supper. Roasted, as this was, and 
no cook could have done it better, or boiled or stewed, as we 
(lid eat after a while, you would not have been able to distin- 
guish it from a fine turbot, if its shape had been imitated. A 
barrel containing about fifty catfish, the head and back 
bone being thrown away, is sold here at £4-10. We 
observed here two sorts of trout, (FurellenJ both known 
by the name of salmon trout, although incorrectly. We 
could not obtain a specimen of the white species; these were 
the yellow and the red coloured, properly named salmon 
trout. The first is generally of a smaller size, its colour a 
dark brown, with a yellow tinge; the other is larger, the 
brown more lively, with reddish spots, fringed with a colour 
of gold, and are sometimes between two and three feet long 
The chub (Triob) is the usual bait, sometimes frogs. 

In the morning we made an excursion in the country, took 
a straight northerly course, and returned through the west 
ami south at the other side to our encampment. The fore- 
land near the lake, at the east' side of the creek, appeared but 
indifferent to the eye, now somewhat used to contemplate 
first-rate soil, and the timber stood in the same relation. At 
the distance of about one-fourth of a mile from the lake, the 
ground rises gradually and continues to do so, if you proceed 
another quarter of a mile. Then the soil increases in fertil- 
ity from step to step, and in the same proportion in depth. 
We had at first only a layer of four, then of six inches, which 
augmented from two to seven palms of my hand ; when we 
had proceeded about two miles, sometimes it is a black wood- 
land, in other places it was mixed with a fine black sand 
sometimes a rich blue ; sometimes a fine yellow clay. 



98 

It seems to me that you arc somewhat surprised at my 
accuracy. Do you uot thou recollect that I never could be 
satisfied in having done a thing by half? I may be mistaken ; 
I may make a wrong decision through ignorance or inadvert- 
ence; but it was my sincere aim to obtain a correct view of 
this country, for your, for my own sake. 

I removed with my large pocket-knife first the muck, till 
I reached the first layer, and protruded then a sound stick in 
that spot as far as it could penetrate, when I often, at. five 
and seven palms depth, discovered the same sort of soil at 
the end of the stick as that on the surface. Beech, maple, 
walnut, was the principal timber, with here and there an ash 
and lime tree, oak and pine, near the shore. 

We crossed the creek a little above a beaver dam, and 
found the same excellent soil at the west side,- with the same 
gradation, and in the same proportion as that which we had 
explored on the east, till we arrived again at the plain, 
covered with fir ami pine 

This is a barren plain, DeZeng, so it seems, bid it has good 
water, it, has good building spots, and by manuring and good 
husbandry, will make good gardens, [t is barren, indeed, 
DeZeng, although it may be meliorated, but, you do not reflect 
on the advantages of that creek ; art thou not convinced by 
what thou hast seen, that with small exertions to improve it, 
full laden bateaux may go in and out, may do it actually 
now ? Did your eye not discover the mill seats on this creek ' 
Ought not the valuable lands back to these not to come in 
competition ? Can you not see bateaux ascending Bruce's 
creek, and descending tiie Salmon creek ' Can you not see 
the tins and other valuable produce of Canada brought hither 
through the canal ? Ah ! do you not see already various 



99 

stores and magazines crowded with merchandize — then you 
nothing of .second sight: return to this spot within 30, tO 
years, and you shall exclaim, DeZeng was pretty near the 
truth, but underrated yet the value of the spot, and so it 
would have been indeed now, had a colony been planted here 
under Stuyvesant's administration, and the noble patronage 
of the Dutch government, of a few families of Boors from 
Guelderland, and of fishermen from the borders of the 
Meuze. 

A swamp begins about two miles and a half from this 
creek, which extends itself considerably in the country and 
joins an excellent, piece of land, which is separated byanothei 
marsh from the lake towards the west. You may calculate 
the value of this land by that, one of the Oneida Indians. 
Colonel Lewis left, nothing untried to have it secured to him 
as his individual property; and that the Indians, when after- 
wards a French adventurer, one Chevalier Bennett, hail 
obtained the possession, did give him in lieu of it 60,000 
acres near Cataraqui. Even these swamps must acquire in 
time no inconsiderable value, from the timber which they 
eon i ain. Their draining, nevertheless, though it max be 
executed, must lie an expensive undertaking, by want of a 
descent for the water, as they are lying nearly on a level. 

We left Bruce's creek on Friday evening about six ; the sky 
was serene and delightful; a soft breeze curled the waves 
and fringed them with white, while the sun sinking towards 
the west beautified the whole scenery. I did not witness 
such a grand or majestic sight since I crossed the Atlantic. 
It must lie seen before it can lie fully appraised, and then it 
must be a biute whose bosom does not glow' with an ardent 
love towards his Creator, and adores His goodness and wisdom 



100 

so majestically displayed in every part of the Universe. In 
proportion that we penetrated deeper ia the lake, the beauty 
of this diversified prospect was more and more enhanced, the 
islands, the shores, the woods, the mountains obtruding them- 
selves to our sight, seemed to vie with other for the prefer- 
ence. At length the slight breeze increased : ere long a 
brisk wind arose from the west; the increased undulated 
motion with the white capped waves appalled our raw hands, 
whose trembling limbs ami pale visages too clearly betrayed 
their fear of a threatening shipwreck. We endeavoured to 
assuage it, as the wind was steady. Tf we had any'appre- 
hension, it, arose from their iuexpertedness, from their unsub- 
dued terror, from the knowledge that two or three waves 
would have been sufficient to sink our deep-loaded canoe. 
We conquered, nevertheless, and they rowed on with re- 
doubled alacrity. We encouraged and applauded their 
efforts, and laughed away their fears. 

1 never witnessed a more charming sight; it was indeed 
exquisitely beautiful; the sun in its full splendour at the 
western horizon, gilding the enlightened clouds, an extensive 
sheet of water in an undulating motion, two islands towards 
the south in front, which wo were now approaching, a small 
opening between these, through which' we had a view of the 
southern coast, one single, covered with grass, and with one 
tree-adorned rock, behind which in perspective appeared the 
country of the < hieidas with the Canoserago hills. 

We landed half after seven at the largest and most westerly 
island, towed the canoe on shore, and walked by an Indian 
path in the woods. 

This island might in ancient days have been the happy 
scat of a goddess, in the middle age that of a magician, or a 



101 

fairy's residence in the times of chivalry. Proceeding on 
one after another through the stately trees, through which 
we perceived yet the last glances of the setting sun, we were 
at once, after a few rods, surprised with an enchanting view, 
of which it is not in my power to give you an adequate 
description. All that the poets did sing of tin- gardens of 
Alcinous, all the scenery of those of Arneida, so highly deco- 
rated by Virgil and Ariosto, could scarce have made upon 
me, who was captivated unawares and bewildered, a more 
deep impression than this spectacle of nature. We did see 
here a luxuriant soil in its virgin bloom ; we did see industry 
crowned with blessing, we did sec line what great things a 
frail man can perform if he is willing. It seemed a- paradise 
which happiness had chosen for her residence. Our path, 
gradually increasing in breadth, did lead us to the circum- 
ference of a cleared circle, surrounded with lime trees; at both 
sides of the. path was planted Indian corn, already grown 
from four to five feet, while a few plants towards the middle of 
this patch were six feet long, and this in the middle of June. 
A small cottage of a few feet square stood nearly in the 
centre of this spot. It had a hark covering, and to the left 
of it a similar one, three-fourths uncovered and appropria- 
ated for a kitchen. Here was the residence of Mr. and 
Madame de Wattines, with their three children. 

They lived then; without servants, without neighbours, 
without a cow ; they lived, as it were, separated from the 
world. De Wattines sallied forward and gave us a cordial 
welcome in his desmenes. The well-educated man was easily 
recognized through his sloven dress. Ragged as he appeared, 
without a coat or hat, his manners were those of a gentleman ; 
his address that of one who had seen the higher circles of 
civilized life. A female, from whose remaining beauties might 



102 

be conjectured how many had been tarnished by adversity, 
was sitting in. the entrance of this cot. She was dressed in 
white, in a short gown and petticoat, garnished with the 
same stuff; her chestnut brown hair Hung back in ringlets 
over her shoulders, her eyes fixed on her darling Camille, a 
native of this isle, at her breast; while two children, stand- 
ing at eacli side of her, play'd in her lap. Her appearance 
was amiable indeed ; a wild imagination might have lost 
herself, and considered the wearied, toiling Des Wattines as 
the magician who kept this beautiful woman in slavery, but 
ere soon the charm dwindled away. Esteem for the man 
filled our bosom, and when you considered how indefatigably 
he must have exerted himself; what sacrifices he must have 
made, what hardships endured, to render her situation com 
Portable, and rear roses for her on this island, so deep iu the 
western wilderness then, notwithstanding all the foibles 
winch a fastidious cool observer might discover at his lire 
side, in a character and conduct as that of Des Wattines. lie 
becomes an object of admiration. 1, at least, gazed at him in 
wonder. Des Wattines introduced us to his spouse. She 
received us with that easy politeness which well-educated 
people seldom lose entirely, and urged, with so much grace, 
to sit down that we could not refuse it without incivility. 
This couple was now in the second year on this island, and 
all the improvements which we had seen were the work of 
Des Wattines' hands exclusively. 

Our refreshment was a dish of tea, or rather their usual 
beverage from Venus hair, which she has collected and dried, 
palatable enough indeed, when sweetened with sugar. It was 
growing dark before we could be persuaded to leave our new 
companions, who insisted on our staying with them that 
night, which we declined reluctantly, but engaged ourselves 



103 

to return iu the morning, and to partake of their break- 
fast. 

Both had gained a claim to this sudden affectionate attach- 
ment. He, initiated in the manners of the fashionable world 
of the Old Continent, with a tincture of Belles Lettres, with 
that sprightliness and versatility of mind, characterising : 

Ce Peuple aimable, ami des arts 
Tantot grave, tantot futile 
Par cent tourbillous emporte, 
Agitant d'une main legere 
Les hockets de la nouveaute ; 
Frivole et gay par charactere 
Et raisonneur par vanite. 

She so artless, so graceful, so fair; who might have 
extorted compliance where a world of men could not prevail ; 
could it be else, or Europeans not insensible to the pleasures 
of society, and separated from those dear to their hearts, must, 
have been gratified with the vicinity and courtesy of this 
couple. 

Few trunks, few chairs, an oval table, two neat beds, wai 
the principal furniture; a double barreled gun, a pretty col 
lection of hooks, chiefly modern literature, in the French lan- 
guage, the chief ornaments of the cottage. 

At our return to our encampment, our tent was pitched 
(lie tire blazing, our hoys snoring, and we too fell soon asleep 
1 awoke with daylight, and made the circuit of this fortu- 
nate island. When returned to the place of our landing, I 
crossed the corn plantation and went on, to contemplate 
more carefully what might have escaped my sight the pre 
ceding eveniue; 



104 

Des Wattines had laid out behind the cottage a pretty 
garden, divided by a walk in the middle. The two foremost 
beds, and robots, against the house, were covered with a 
variety of flowers; sweet williains, lady slippers, with a few 
decaying hyacinths. At the right hand were bush beans, 
large kidney beans, at poles, cabbage, turnips, peas, salade, 
with that strong scented herbage, which we call keovel, 
(cheovel,) and which yon purchase so dear at your arrival in 
New York, although its culinary use in cakes and soup was 
then yet unknown there; at the left, water-melons, cante- 
lopes, cucumbers, persil, stringpeas, with a few of the winter 
provisions, all in great forwardness, with few or no weeds 
among them ; behind the garden a small nursery of apple 
trees, which was closed with a patch of luxuriant potatoes, 
and these again were joined both sides by wheat, describing a 
semi-circle around it. 

All this was the workmanship of Des Wattines's industry; 
without any assistance, not even of a plow or harrow, having 
no other tools but an axe and an hoe. It was true it was all 
in miniature, but it required, nevertheless, an indefatigable 
industry to be able to accomplish all this to such a degree of 
perfection. When I approached the cottage Des Wattines 
was yet employed in dragging pretty heavy wood fin - fuel 
towards it, which he chopt and split in a short time; and in 
less yet the fire was blazing, when he came with a catfish of 
sixteen pounds, for our breakfast. While he was busily 
engaged in its preparations, Madame appeared, brought him 
a handful persil. and dressed the table. The table cloth was 
of neat damask, a few silver spoons and forks, the plates 
and dishes cream coloured, remnants yet of their former 
affluence; while the contentment legible in her eyes, spread a 
fresh glow over her countenance, and made a deep impres- 



105 

sion on our hearts, and whetted our already keen appetite. 
DeZeng was meanwhile arrived, and complimented Madame 
with his usual politeness. Salade, roasted and stewed fish, 
well baked, warm bread of Indian corn, with good Hyzan 
tea, which she accepted from us with kindness, soon filled 
the table. I was seldom better regaled. The fish was deli- 
cious; the sprightly conversation u'ave a fresh relish to every 
mouthful we tasted; and we might have desired to be inhab- 
itants of that enchanted spot, had it been in our power to 
withdraw our attention from the hardships to which they 
uric exposed, and banish the idea that they seldom could 
obtain anything else but fish. 

You know, my dear sir, how all -significant it is toujour s 
de perdrix! although the gay conviviality of Des Wattines 
drove for a while this gloomy thought away, it could not 
prevent its' return, while now and then a downcast look, how 
suddenly it was relieved, an involuntary half suppressed sigh 
gave a new poignancy to the bitterness of this feeling. Des 
Wattines even assisted by DeZeng, ridiculed in vain, similar 
reveries and phantoms; she smiled and its force was blunted, 
an island ! in Oneida Lake! the want of all society whatever, 
except perhaps a solitary visit from — a bear! the want of many 
of the first necessaries of life, and that, too, in her situation, 
when her Camille was born ! the imperious necessity to leave, 
from time to time, such an amiable, delicate woman with three 
children, helpless, sometimes days together, alone on this 
island, as often Des Wattines went to the Oneida creek for 
corn. Was it possible that similar reflections should not 
have marred the most tumultuous joy ! I will not deny that 
my spirits were damped, and my jocundity was now and 
then deeply tinged with melancholy. 



106 

Des Wattines inquired in the boundaries of our journey, 
to Lake < mtariOj" " and in what manner ?" " Well, with our 
canoe," was the reply. He sprung from his chair and stared 
us fully in the face with a " Par Dien ! with your canoe ! 
to Lake Ontario ! nanny ! prcnezle bateaux, take it, Major, it 
is at \'<uii- service, Premez le." We did not hesitate long to 
accept Ins offer. We might have brought our adventurous 
expedition to a happy end ; it was unquestionable that we 
might effect witli far greater safety in a bateau. We soon 
had our baggage transported in it. left our canoe behind at 
the island, with our frying pan, through the slothfulness of 
our hands. We started thus on Saturday morning about ten. 
Towards the south the Canoserago creek, rich in fish, falls in 
the lake. The bottom of the lake at the south side is a grey 
stone, winch extends to the shore, and seems divided in 
oblong squares. There are appearances, and very strong 
indeed, of rock iron, which ore, in sonic parts, is extending 
for a considerable length on the shore; and although we had 
proofs to call not its reality in question, we could not ascer- 
tain it, The land had again a very promising aspect at some 
distance from the shore, and shall, I doubt not, he transformed, 
within a few years, in productive farms. We arrived at 
Fort Brewerton about noon, situated at the northwestern 
corner of the lake. Here is a location of about four hundred 
acres, obtained by Mr. Kaats during the late British war. It 
was now inhabited by two families, viz, that of one 
Captain Bingham, and one Mr. Simonds, the latter from 
Caughnawagha. They had rented it at £20 a year, and desired 
to make a purchase of it, but Mr. Kaats, acquainted with its 
value, had constantly declined their offers. 

I was highly gratified with excellent bread and butter, 
feasted on milk for my beverage, and purchased two pints of 



107 

it, which we carried to our bateau. The situation alone 
renders this spot of considerable consequence, and its import- 
ance must be heightened as soon the back lands are settled. 
and the navigation of the western waters shall he carried to 
that summit to which it eventually must ascend. The soil 
is clay, of which a large quantity of brick was made ; some- 
what further a saiuby loam was covered with stately trees, 
oak, then beech, ash and maple. 

We arrived in the Onondago river, which, even as the Fish 
creek, has generally very steep banks, more so, however, at 
the west side. We passed some pines, through our unexpert- 
ness, large rifts, with difficulty. It was said here was an 
ancient Indian eel-wear, by which this natural obstruction 
in the bed of the river had been increased. The stream was 
otherwise very placid, and our progress, of course, easy. To 
the west, joining Kaats' location, is an excellent tract of land, 
the property of Mr. L'Home Dieu ; to the south the military 
lands, chiefly a valuable fruitful soil. A sudden shower com 
pelled us to land about three miles below Fort Brewerton, 
where we encamped that night, being resolved, if the rain 
might abate, to take a view of the land. 

The soil is rich, with a great variety of luxuriant trees ; a 
black loam, with a mixture of tine sand of the same colour, 
many inches deep, then clay ; the timber majestic, spreading 
its branches and foliage ; beech, oak, maple, black ash, with 
here and there a pine and hemlock. 1 had ventured, rather 
imprudently, perhaps, a few miles in the woods; the beauty 
of the spot had lured me deeper and deeper, till at, last I 
knew not from where 1 came or whither T went; (lie sun 
being set, 1 had lost this unerring guide ; my only refuge was 
imw my pocket compass, by which I again discovered the 
course which I had to steer towards the river. This, never 



108 

theless, would have brought me two miles below my encamp- 
ment, had not DeZeng, apprehensive of this issue, scut out 
the boys to hunt the straggler. 

Next day, about three in the afternoon, we reached Three 
River Point, eighteen miles from Fort Brewerton; here join 
the Onondago and Seneca rivers, that of Oswego flowing to 
Lake Ontario .in a southwesterly direction. One Barker 
lived at the east side of this point, whose chief employment 
was to conduct the bateaux over the falls in Oswego river. 
He might have been independent, had he possessed virtue 
and strength of mind sufficient to take advantage of liis 
situation. Every bateau bound to or coming from the 
Genesees, Onondago, Oswego, Cataraqui and Niagara stops 
here, and their crews would often deem it a happiness, could 
they then* be supplied with refreshments of bread, butter 
and milk, of rum and gin. He knew scarce the first, so 
seldom did he see these articles, and the latter lie wanted for 
himself exclusively. 

This spoi, is a reservation of Church land for the benefit of 
the district; and why not, my dear sir, are not by this great 
State a. few millions of their unsold lands devoted and 
appropriated to the maintenance of the clergy, without any 
distinction of sects, so the new settlers would not l>e burthened 
above what they are aide to bear, and the worthy clergy 
would not often be reduced to beggary. A small patch of 
corn promised a, good crop, and a similar of summer wheat 
which he said to have sown the first of May, had branched 
out its large ears. 

At the southwest side of Oswego is the valuable tract of 
L. Gansevoort, with here and there a cleared spot, and 
another in no respect, except extension, inferior to this is a 



109 

location of one thousand acres of L'Home Dieu, to the north 
of the Onondago opposite to the southern point of the Oswego. 

We hired Barker at five shillings a day, to bring us over 
the fall, and stay with us till our return. We started from 
the point at four. We distinguished at a considerable dis 
tance the grumbling noise of the water on the first and 
second rift. Near the first is a remarkable good mill seat ; 
here were the Onondagos collected in huge numbers ; some 
fishing, some smoking in their huts, others from time to time 
arriving and passing us in their bark canoes, with much art 
constructed, so light and easily manageable, that a squaw 
with her little daughter-gained on us, and left us soon behind 
her by her velocity. We concluded to encamp about ten 
miles from Three Rivers Point, opposite to a handsome island 
in the Oswego river. The pickerel often weigh here thirty 
pounds, pike is of a similar size ; we took a catfish of four 
span and a half; perch too, of which we obtained a few, is 

here in abundance. 

• 

At a short distance from the river is a good fertile soil , 
further, of a rich clay ; the timber pretty similar to that 
which we had seen before. We stalled again pretty early 
on Monday morning, and arrived at the falls, twelve miles 
from the point. This indeed was again a very interesting 
si"lit You would be enraptured with it: could I borrow 
and then make use of Vernet's pencil, so that I could do jus- 
tice to the scenery, 1 would offer you a grand tableau. At 
the south side is a farm of three hundred acres, of one Mr. 
Valekenburg, who intends to build him this year a saw and 
grist mill. It is a noble spot for constructions of this kind. 

Here we unloaded our bateau ; dragged it about a hundred 
rods over the carrying place, and there, below the falls com- 



110 

raitted lier again to its proper element. In few moments 
our baggage was again on board and we in the bateau. Here 
Barker did give us a proof of his dexterity and alertness ; 
with a rapidity' which dimmed the sight, with an incredible 
swiftness, we passed over stones, between rocks and islands, 
as an arrow on the wing and lost the falls out of our sight 
and hearing, before we could reflect to turn our eyes once 
more towards these, or examine our process with coolness. 
At twelve we arrived at Oswego, yet secured by a British 
garrison, notwithstanding it ought to have been surrendered 
many years before to our government, in conformity to the 
treaty of peace. But I should not have dared to assert that 
from our side all its articles had been religiously observed. 
If so, nevertheless, then our national forbearance was a rare 
example in a Republican Government. 

It is true, my dear sir, to take some repose, I at least am 
in want of it, and the generous cannot be lack in courtesy 
In my next I shall bring you to the limits of the land of 
promise I will not leave you there, but depend upon it you 
will perceive how I am then speeding, as a dart from the 
bow, towards my beloved family. 

Adio. Yours, &c. 



Kingston, 10 August, 1792. 

My Dear Sir — Two fortifications, commanding a consid- 
erable extent of water and land, attracted first our notice. 
That to the south, constructed in former days by the British, 
was now chiefly demolished : that to the north, fortified by 
the French, and conquered on them by the British, during 
the seven years' war, is yet garrisoned by them, although 



Ill 

within our lines. Its whole defence, however, is but one 
company, which could not make any resistance, as all the 
fortifications are so decayed, that it would not be a great 
achievement, to drive over these ramparts with wagon and 
horses. Neither does it seem the intention to make any 
repairs, from the consciousness no doubt, that their surrender 
is long since finally concluded, and only delayed on account 
of some trifling formalities, at this or the other side of the 
Atlantic I saw nevertheless in this paltry despicable fort- 
ress, seven barrels salt, taken from an American bateau, by 
an American run-a-way, now a British custom house officer. 
It is. forsooth, a port of entry, which a sturdy Yankee might 
pa*s without a lee. This practice could not be continued, if 
the whole country was settled, even if the post was not sur- 
rend'Ted ; as Americans could not, neither would bear much 
longer such an indignity. Neither would a large force he 
required to set this garrison at defiance. An act of hostility, 
however, would in the present situation, be an act of impru- 
dence, of rashness, as it might clog our government's negotia- 
tions ; and the day is now fast approaching, that it shall be 
peacefully surrendered, and the American stripes unfurled on 
this bulwark; when the British leopard may return with 
honour to his Canadian den. 

The commanding officer, a Rhode Island man by birth. 
Captain Wickham, treated us with a great deal of politeness, 
and regretted to be unable to offer us refreshments, as the 
Canadian sloop, which was for these, was not yet returned, 
but every hour expected. 

This frank and fearless veteran was not at all alarmed at 
our appearance, or suspected that we might come to discover 
and betray the nakedness of this country and fort entrusted 



112 

to his charge. He enquired carelessly in the object of our 
expedition, and made us an offer of his aid whenever he 
might be of any service to us; and ho did so effectually; it 
was through his management that the British Interpreter, 
thoroughly acquainted with Lake Ontario and its shores, 
agreed to conduct us to the Salmon creek. 

This Mr. Price spent a part of his youth with Ouondago 
Indians. He was in the beginning discreet enough and civil 
through the whole of this excursion, but his society other- 
wise, tar from indifferent, lost a great part of its worth by his 
incessant swearing ; it was, indeed, if he deemed it an accom- 
plishment. This was a pity indeed, as ho was blessed by a 
bountiful God with various rare endowments, a sound judg- 
ment, a lively imagination, undaunted courage, with a frame 
of body so strong that it harried all fatigues, so handsome 
that he did not, want to stoop whenever he wished to conquer. 
He was an ingenous mechanic indeed, excelling to whatever 
he bended his versatile genius ; he made an excellent violin 
for one Mr. Gordon, an European, who was often pleased to 
say in its praise, " that in Canada it might be offered for a 
( Jremonese." 

This Mr. Price was our Palinurus as soon we had 
entered our bateau, which was about four in the afternoon ; 
)ur raw hands rowed ; Price was at the helm. We did sit, 
on the middle bench ; ere long we reached deep water. Lake 
Ontario resembles rather an open sea than an inland reservoir 
of water. You look in vain for land to rest your eye upon. 
We arrived, with a fresh breeze at Four Miles Point, hoisted 
now our sail, passed it and obtained then a view of a range 
of perpendicular rocks, which rendered a landing impossible 
and dangerous to approach them nearer. I cannot say that 



113 

I was charmed at first with this prospect, and yet it was 
imposing enough but I was become too much accustomed to 
peaceful, rural scenes, to become at once enamoured with 
objects of grandeur, risen and protruded by the woods, the 
waves and the rocks. Not one of our Argonauts or he 
seemed pleased with the trip ; what signified rowing where 
we might sail ? Spread the cauvass ! how merrily glides our 
bateau over the waves ! Bernhard, one of our hands, boasted 
on his seamanship and experience. He doubled not, or he 
might bring a vessel in safety in the harbour; he had seen 
the narrows between Long Island and Staten Island. Price 
swore that he was tired with steering, and called, with another 
curse our pilot to take care of the helm. Now he placed him- 
self between us and smoked his pipe. Our new steersman 
pointed every time towards shore, which he as often was 
compelled by a general command to steer more towards the 
middle, as we were now between the tremendous rocks at 
Four and Nine Miles Point. The wind suddenly increased, 
our pilot turned again towards the shore, and was anew for 
a moment by Price's tremendous curses, overawed to steer 
once more to dec]) water. But his increasing fear — not 
longer within his control — a desultory animated conver- 
sation between DeZeng, Price and myself, permitting him to 
follow the bias of his alarming impulse and a pretty rough 
western wind carried us within a few moments at a distance 
of a few rods only, towards these horrible perpendicular 
rocks, of which some seemed suspended over the watery 
surface. We were now in an imminent danger, a shipwreck, 
by which the bateau must have been dashed in pieces, seemed 
inevitable, and no lives might have l»eeu saved, except, 
perhaps, that of Price. At once a loud pityful cry, "hold 
towards shore," struck our ears, Price did tear the oar from 
N 



114 

Barker's hand, commanded to lower the sail and bring out 
the oars, but all in vain. The pilot wept and cry VI, " hold 
towards shore, Mr. Price, good Mr. Price! push on shore — I 
pi ay God Almighty — dear Mr. Price, set on shore!" Price's 
reply was, " God damn you rascal! down the sail, out the 
oar, obey or sink !" One of our boys sat nearly lifeless in 
the bow ; the other near the mast, pale as death, with staring 
ryes and with opened mouth. The danger increased t<> 
appearance: the surge ruse higher and higher; our united 
strength and weight, viz : DeZeng's and mine, were scarce 
sufficient to prevent the bateau turning upside down ; twice 
did 1 actually see a great part of the bottom, twice 1 did see 
it naked ; one-half inch more and we had been lost. At last 
the sail was struck, the oar out, and we were only in part 
exposed to the first shock, while Price, who remained calm 
and alert, succeeded in forcing the prow into the waves, and 
bringing us again in safety in deep water. When the danger 
was past the terror of our crew abated, and 1 praised in my 
soul the Almighty, as I do at this instant, for our hair-breadth 
escape. 

Price remained now' at the helm, and we proceeded on our 
course with a steady breeze, very pleasantly, except that 
DeZeng and 1 were thoroughly soaked over the right side 
from top to toe, while our three hirelings grinned that they 
were yet dry. This was our reward for our arduous struggle 
to avert a peril which threatened to overwhelm us all. 

We entered, notwithstanding the foaming breakers, a creek 
of the middle size, three miles to the south of the Little Sal- 
mon creek, towed our bateau in an inlet, and chose the 
heights for our encampment. Before our tent was pitched, 
and our fire in full blaze, Price and Barker returned with a 



115 

large eel and huge catfish, which were more than sufficienl 
for our supper. 

We arrived on Tuesday at the Little Salmon creek ; there 
was fish in the greatest abundance ; Otsego bass, porch, sun 
fish, cattish, eel, sheepshead, similar but superior in flavour to 
that species called neus braessem by the Dutch, and sword- 
fish. We speared a few of these and cut off their heads, 
armed with swords, of five and six inches in length, without 
tasting the fish, as some of our crew pretended that it was of 
a poisonous nature, which I would doubt. It might be so in 
the sword ; or it might be that this terrible weapon overawed 
the first examiners and roused their imagination, to give 
birth to similar dreams; the meat certainly a] >poars good, 
being solid white, and lined with a milky substance. The 
salmon collects here and in the Big Salmon creek, in nearly 
incredible numbers, during the fall and spring. 

The soil along the shore is generally indifferent, seldom, to 
appearance, above mediocrity. Sand and stone at various 
distances, intersected by swamps, a lew pine, more hemlock, 
and sometimes a cedar brush. As soon you penetrate some 
what deeper in the country, its interior parts become more 
pleasing, the soil more fertile, more valuable the timber; 
beech and maple re-appear, intermixed with oak and walnut. 
Several mill seats are on these large creeks. 

The wind was too vehement on Wednesday to proceed on 
our journey with such an ignorant and even cowardly crew . 
even the daring Price advised us ool to run the risk; bn( he 
could not on any account be persuaded to remain longer with 
us He grasped his gun, left his great coat with us, and flew 
out of sight in the woods. We heard the report of a gun. 



116 

another, and there was Price returned ; he threw a couple of 
partridges at our feet, and departed finally. 

We caught yellow perch which indeed was exquisite ; 
large pickerel and pike, some, two feet long. The lake 
became more and more tempestuous; the wind blew a gale, 
and our Typheus had left us. Now I could not compter a 
rising wish to he reunited to a beloved family, dear t<> my 
heart by so many ties, and enjoy with them that placid con- 
tentment in our peaceful abode in Ulster; and, when 1 felt, 
that it was vain, it increased for a few moments to a painful 
anguish. The thought that my presence would be more and 
more longed for every day; that it was actually required 
there; the roughness of our hands, with whose intimacy I 
became disgusted ; the want of a number of comforts and 
conveniences to which I was accustomed, and seemed now 
for the first time to become sensible of — all this, with the 
uncertainty when we might leave this spot with safety, sub- 
dued for a while my sprightliness, and rendered me morose 
and sullen, but it wason^a morning cloud, which passed by 

The recollection that He who rules and directs all for the 
best restored my wonted equanimity, while DeZeng's insinuat- 
ing address and entertaining conversation soon again brought 
my feelings in union with his. The violence of the tempest, 
increased with the falling night, and did not abate till the 
morning, when we compelled our pilot and crew to enter once 
more in the bateau. 

When we perceived that Barker brought us nearly in the 
same situation as before, we listened to prudence advice and 
considered it our duty to land in the same creek which we 
had entered/on Monday. We took here, after we bad rowed 



117 

up this creek for two miles, a large quantity of trout of 
various sizes — to regale us at dinner. 

Nothing, my dear sir, resembles nearer the small rivulets 
and canals in South Holland than these creeks, as far as these 
are navigable. You see the same water plants and flowers 
in some parts the conserve/,, covering a part of the surface — 
the same insects, the same serpentine windings. We took a 
walk after dinner a few miles in the country, following the 
course of the creek at some distance, where we found a rich 
soil, and here and there a mill seat. A variety of huts scat- 
tered along the creek with a sort of sheds to dry eels, was a 
full proof that neither here was want of fish. The small 
river lobster was here plentiful. The soil was full of stones 
near the creek, which diminished in proportion that we 
receded from it. This fertile soil was covered with some oak , 
beech and maple, in some parts mixed with walnut, chestnut 
and butternut. We returned about G o'clock to our encamp- 
ment, but our pilot and one of our hands were unwilling to 
embark that evening; to-morrow morning — this night they 
would start — the lake was yet too high ; at last, however, 
having prevailed on one of our lads, we got them all, willing, 
unwilling in the boat. We placed him whose good will I had 
secured at the helm; the pilot with his mate in mutiny at, 
the oars, and pushed forward deep enough in the lake 3 while 
DeZeng and I took a pagay in the hand to prosper our 
course. 

Here we met with the bateau, from which the British had 
secured a part of the cargoe of salt, permitting it to depart 
after the remainder had becw redeemed. It proceeded to 
Cadaraghkui. A fresh westerly breeze with the falling even- 
ing, induced us to look out for a landing spot, in which we 



118 

sooner and better succeeded than we could have expected. 
It was about two miles above Nine Miles Point; the wind 
suddenly increased again ; we hauled our bateau on dry land 
so that we might not lose her during the night. 

It was now about 8 o'clock ; the evening beautifully 
charming beyond expression; the bauk on which we had 
pitched our tent was about four feet above the level of the 
shore ; before our tent was a large fire in full blaze ; the sky 
remarkably clear ; a double colonnade of stately broad- 
branched beech and birch trees surrounding our encampment, 
planted, as it seemed, by our warmed imagination, in a regular 
symmetry, without intercepting from our eyes the sight of 
the lake, which was illumed by the moon. The soil appeared 
tolerably good, the bank continued to rise above us, but it 
was too late now for a more accurate examination. I was 
indeed charmed with this beautiful spot ; the supper was 
welcome ; we chatted away a part of the evening before we 
perceived from the snoring of our crew that it was late, and 
high time to lie down. My sleep was refreshing. 1 awoke 
with a renewed ardour, and roused at breakday every soul 
in the tent by my uninterrupted halloos. 

At (i o'clock we rowed already with all our might, and 
arrived about ten at the fort, to our great satisfaction and 
joy. As there remained nothing in the place to keep our 
curiosity alive, we had soon our dinner prepared and dis- 
patched ; when ready to start, Captain Wickham, returning 
from the woods with half a dozen pigeons in his hand,giveth 
us a friendly call. We left the fort at 1 o'clock, and made 
our encampment that night three miles from the falls, after 
having walked one mile to lessen the freight of the bateau ; 
and now, my dear sir, you will en jo}' with us, that we accom- 



119 

plished this journey without any real misfortune. The 
remainder must be. of course, riding post over the same 
ground, become now to us less interesting, and yet I wish to 
reserve the conclusion for my next. 

Yours. 



Kingston, 15 August, 1792. 

My Dear Sir — Our breakfast was in readiness at an early 
hour, neither did we tarry long; all hands to the bateau! 
speed, boys ' speed ! and the command was promptly execu- 
cuted. Our boat seemed to acquire a new vigor, either that 
lie was satisfied fully with the length of this trip, or that he 
actually longed for his home. We arrived at Three River 
Point about seven, discharged Mr. Barker, and pitched our 
tent in the vicinity of Ids house, crowded with travellers 
from several bateaux and canoes, which tarried there since 
yesterday. Barker had caught, by throwing a line behind 
the bateau, four large Oswego bass, the smallest, of a foot 
long, which was the best part of our supper. 

I had now* an opportunity of examining and witnessing 
the truth, of what the Baron had told me before of the 
curious manner, by which the chubs (lziobs) hide their eggs. 
They deposit these along the rivers of Oswego and Onon- 
lago on shallow ^pots, and cover these afterwards with small 
pebbles, heaped in a conical form, somewhat below the sur- 
face of the water, while others were prominent above it. 

Need I tell you, my dear sir, that Fort Brewerton, winch 
we leached at four in the afternoon, was to us a delightful 
sight. Captain Bingham w r as from home on the salmon 



120 

fishery, and Captain Simonds, with the womeu, on a visit to 
the Island. His eldest daughter, nevertheless, a smart young 
girl, prepared us a good supper, a bass of two pound, a dish 
with stewed eel, with fresh bread and butter. Our breakfast 
was congenial, having secured two capital eels, with a pot of 
milk and rice; we hurried to the Island and complimented 
Mr. and Madame des Wattines, on Monday morning between 
nine and ten. We were again congratulated with a hearty 
welcome, and a new zest was added to our gratification, when 
Des Wattines proposed to conduct us to the Fish creek, or 
Oneida river, as he was compelled to go to the Oneidas for 
Indian coin. His garden was yet more pleasant, its value 
unquestionably had increased. Head lettuce, parsley (porce- 
lain) string peas, and kindey beans, were in full perfection. 
They would not be refused, and seemed not satisfied, before 
we were provided with some store of their plenty, as they 
were pleased to call it ; and then yet they, as it were, coin- 
pelled us by their kind, although nearly importune entreaties, 
to accept a mess of new potatoes with a large; cat-fish. 
Madame walked with us to the shore ; there we slept in the 
bateau ; one of his dogs had taken early a place in our canoe, 
the other did swim behind it. Madame des Wattines, with 
her Camille to her bosom, her eldest boy between her, and 
his sister at her side, motionless, staring at us, with an ex- 
pressive countenance, with features portraying what her soul 
so keenly seemed to feel in that distressing moment of sepa- 
ration, adieu, Des Wattines ! was all which we could distin- 
guish. There stood that lovely, deserted fair one ! not 
deserted as Ariadne, but nevertheless left alone with three 
helpless children — alone ! on an island on Oneida Lake. I 
turned my head from this mournful object, and conquered, 
with some reluctance, these painful sentiments which tor- 
tured my bosom. His dog followed our bateau, swimming, 



121 

and lauded at length at the second island, where he continued 
a while, barking, and then returned, as we supposed, and Des 
Wattines assured us, to his mistress. 

We saw before we reached the creek a summer shower, 
refreshing the island, on which no drop of rain had fallen 
since three weeks. So takes a bountiful Father care of those 
of His children who arc destitute of every other assist- 
ance; so He waters the wilderness, refreshes the herbs in the 
desert, and tills the hearts of those that are languishing, with 
food and gladness. 

We took our dinner by Bruce, where our milk and rice, 
which we purchased at Fort Brewerton, was to all a palatable 
dish ; then we bid a hearty farewell to our recluse — pre- 
sumptively a farewell forever, and returned towards evening 
to the mouth of the Fish creek or Oneida river, from which 
we started fur our expedition. Des Wattines prepared our 
soupe of eel and catfish, while we superintended the pitching 
of our tent and making a good tire. This was a truly social 
entertainment ; our hearts were flushed with success, and 
the prospect before us of meeting ere long with our wives 
and children, and, having passed some of the great waters of 
the western lakes, it rendered our feelings exquisitely de- 
lightful. 

Here we were gratified with a visit, if it is not presump- 
tuous to make use of such a familiar term, when 1 speak of 
a casual meeting of such great folks as the first Judge Lan- 
sing and Col. Lewis, the Attorney General of the State, and 
Major Farley, who all went to attend the circuit, and yet we 
considered it a visit, as we too had been considered as great 
folks by some, who wanted our cash, as we were the first 
occupants of the soil, and this, according with the gift of, I 



122 

know not of what ancient or modern pontiff, if it was not 
St. George or St. Francis, the proprietors of the soil exclu- 
sively. We separated after conversation ; they doomed to 
remain there till it pleased the westerly breeze to abate ; Des 
Wattines parting from us in his bateau to the Oneida creek, 
and we proceeding with our canoe to the Fish creek or 
Oneida river. Here we met with one of our old acquaint- 
ance, Mr. Abraham Lansing, who, with one Mr. Fonda, went 
to Niagara. We stopt at the mouth of the Wood creek. I 
concluded, while DeZeng with oue of our lads was preparing 
our dinner, to take with the other a view of the Fish creek. 
Before we started, Captain Bingham returned with rive 
barrels salmon, and sold us a fresh one. 

We rowed up the creek about three miles, and then landed 
on the side between the Fish and Wood creeks ; here we met 
first with a broad girdle of fertile flat land, nearly east by 
west; then a long tract of pine chiefly, then beech, maple 
and oak. The lower parts at this side are often overflown. 
The land at the west side is much higher than that to the 
east. 1 ordered the boy to proceed higher up, and took a 
similar course landward in, and examined the soil from time 
to time, which 1 found generally fertile, although of a less 
favorable aspect towards the lake and richer again in propor- 
tion, that I took a northwestern course. My opinion was as 
much formed from the variety of timber as from the soil, 
which through a partial and incorrect examination might 
have led me astray. I reached my canoe near the mouth of 
the Wood creek, entered it and found, after an absence of 
three hours, the peas porridge ready. We remained that 
evening two miles at this side of the Oak Orchard, where we 
breakfasted, and met about one mile from it, Mess. Boon and 
Lincklaen, who, assisted by Mr. Morris, a land surveyor, pro- 



123 

ceeded on a similar excursion. It was 2 o'clock before we 
arrived at the widow Armstrong's cottage. Tn an instant the 
kettle was hung on the fire to boil our fresh salmon. We 
made ourselves an ample compensation for our frugal repast 
at breakfast. The salmon was delicious enough, although 
not so fat, which, no doubt, was occasioned that it was speared ; 
but certainly this one, though considered large, was much 
smaller than usually those on the river the Meuse. 

Amos Fuller, who resided now with his family at the 
widow's till he should be successful, as he said, in purchasing 

a farm in this neighbourhood, informed us, that two past 

three Massachusetts men, amongst whom one of his brothers, 
had taken an accurate view of the tract from this point be- 
tween the Canada creek, then westward between the Wood 
and Fish creeks, and considered it upon the whole so valuable 
that they had offered to purchase a whole township, to pay a 
£1,000 by the deed of the land, and the residue within a 
year, obliging themselves further to settle it before April, 
1704-, with thirty-five families 

We heard this identical tract described by others, ardently, 
perhaps, desiring to take it in their grasp, described as an 
indifferent tract of land, remarkable chiefly for its hemlock, 
pine and swamps, which, perhaps, might fall short in defray- 
ing the expenses of its survey. This difference of opinion 
can only be accounted for in one way, not that judgment was 
biased, but that secret motives induced the one and the other 
to overrate or underrate lands to facilitate its sale or pur- 
chase ; come and see, then, and examine for yourself and your 
friends. Fuller tacked his old horse to our canoe, and dragged 
it to Fort Bull ; here I strode on poor Rouziuante, step by step, 
towards Fort Stanwix, where the baron, after a little while, 



124 

arrived, having left our canoe and baggage one mile from the 
carrying place by want of water. The canoe arrived next 
morning. We dined, in part, on the new potatoes of Des Wat- 
tines, the welcome cup flowed over and I sincerely thanked 
the baron for his hospitable reception, for his manifold ser- 
vices and entertaining society, during a journey which 
required such a good companion to smooth its roughness. 
His lady was by her attentions entitled to the same civilities. 
We took a cordial farewell ; 1 stept on 1113' horse, which was 
neat and plumb, rode to Whitesborough, visited Mr. Piatt, 
once to be compared to Noordkerk of Amsterdam ; and then 
made a call to the good hearted Himh White, asked for their 
commands and slept that night at old Fort Schuyler, by Mr. 
Hansje Post. I was again on horseback early in the morn- 
ing on Friday, and crossed the river. My oiled silk surtout 
coat defended me from the rain, which continued without 
interruption from five till eight. I had missed the road near 
the German Flatts, but met good people, who with kind- 
ness convinced me that I was on a b3 7 e-path They 
had observed my inattentive mien, and asked me where 
I went to ? I crossed again the Mohawk, took breakfast 
at Mr. Aldritz's, visited the Rev. Rosekrantz, and arrived 
at Capt. Billinger's, where 1 obtained for my dinner, 
good chicken broth. I stept at four on my horse and 
associated to another traveller, passed Cauajohari, baited 
our horses by Hudson, crossed the Mohawk for the last 
time, tarried about an hour at the widow Schuyler's, and 
slept that night nine miles farther at Bankert's inn, much 
fatigued and thoroughly wet by a copious perspiration. 

The sight of several fields, from which they were reaping 
the r}'e, of others where the sheaves stood in array, made me 
double my speed. Looking steadily forward, and little car- 



125 

ing of what I left behind, I discovered first at Simon Veder's, 
at Canghnawaga, that I had left my spurs,— it was fortunate 
that I was not in want of these for my good horse. I break- 
fasted at Putnam's on Trip's hill, staid over noon at Mabee's, 
six miles from Scheuectadi, without tasting a morsel, provid- 
ing quietly for my beast, as the landlady declined the trouble 
to prepare a roasted chicken for my dinner. I might have 
got some pork. I enjoyed the satisfaction to find the Rev. 
Romeyu with his lady and family in a perfect health. A 
good dish of tea, with the delightful society of that respecta- 
ble clergyman, revived my spirits, so that I passed two 
agreeable hours with them. I rode the same evening yet five 
miles farther, and was before eight next morning under the 
hospitable roof of my worthy friend, Dr. Mancius. 

The Rev. de Ronde, a clergyman of four-score years, who 
expatriated from one of the Land Provinces, and settled in 
this State, many years past, was to officiate in the Dutch 
Church. I was tempted to be one of his hearers. His sub- 
ject was rich enough : " Who shall shew us what is good ? let 
the light of your countenance arise upon us, O Lord !" A 
Bonnet, a Hulshoff, a Chevalier, would have delivered a mas- 
ter-piece. The good old father, I believe, did as well he 
could. But, accustomed as I was, to dainties, it was a hard 
fare to digest a coarser meal. In this respect, my dear sir, the 
time for our adopted country is yet to come, and I doubt not 
it will, but thus far we are yet behind. J must acknowledge, 
however, I did not hear your New York clergy. If I had done 
so, I might have been prompted by justice to a recantation. 
I retreated after dinner, in silence, from the city, with the 
fear of the constable, ignorant that I did attend Divine wor- 
ship in the morning, continually before my eyes, slept at 
Cosochie, and rode early on Monday morniug through an 



126 

incessant rain, to Mr. Sax, in the Imhogt. Let not your 
warm imagination make you suppose that your learned Sax 
of [Jtrecht, whoso talents I so often admired, and who 
deserved so well the applause which he earned by his Orow,- 
asiicon, had transplanted himself in the neighbourhood of the 
beautiful Hudson; then you could not have been long in sus- 
pense, while I made such a speed towards his house. No, 
sir! It was the honest and industrious Hans Sax, perhaps 
descending from the same lineage. My breakfast was soon 
in readiness, and I could not deny him the; satisfaction, to 
give him the outlines of my excursion. From here I contin- 
ued my route to Capt. Hendrick Schoonmaker, where I took 
a dish of tea, till a heavy thunder shower shall have passed 
My patience was exhausted at length, as the day was far 
gone, and submitted to ride nine miles further, through a vio- 
lent rain, before I could reach my dwelling. But not one 
single drop made an} 7 impression, except on my hat, face and 
hands, thanks to my silk oiled coat. 

Joy was legible in every countenance; my heart was glad 
and thankful when I did sec me so cordially received, when 
1 felt myself embraced with so much tenderness b} 7 all who 
were so dear to me. 

My dear John alone suffered, under an intermittent fever, 
but that unwelcome visitor left us ere long, so that every- 
thing is again in its old train; the children at school, father 
in the field, mother unwearied, attentive to her many domes- 
tic concerns ; all is bustle : ten loads of hay, eleven of rye, 
and fourteen of wheat are secured; the remainder mowed 
and reaped in the field, so that I must take hold of a few 
moments early in the morning and late at evening. 

My companion, more sanguine in his projects and more 
ardent in their pursuit, had a much higher conception of 



127 

this tract than your friend ; to him it was superior, far ex- 
ceeding all that he had seen, in situation, in luxuriant 
fertility, in natural riches. No doubt it was gifted with it; 
it might, by an active industry, be transformed in an Eden ! 
It may be so; it may be that his views are nearer the truth ; 
he had been on that spot before me, but it did not appear to 
me under such high glowing colours. 1 did see some very 
indifferent parts; I meant to have discovered several barren 
spots ; but in what tract of land extended to (i or 100,00 
acres shall similar spots not be discovered ? Perhaps these 
may even exist to a much larger amount than 1 do suspect 
where we did not penetrate. The soil, in my opinion, is even 
less rich than that in Whitestown and at the Oriskany creek, 
but its cultivation shall be easier, it shall not bake, it shall 
not be hardened in the same manner in a dry season. 

I visited and examined this tract with the view to fix 
there my permanent residence, and obtain a valuable pos- 
session for my children and your family. My dear friend had 
always an equal share in these my contemplations and pur 
suits. I did not shrink at meeting in face some hardships, 
but visited it and endeavoured to examine it from creek to 
creek, not only near the water side, but often several miles 
in the interior, to obtain a sufficiently correct knowledge of 
its situation, of its teal and relative value; and in this mind 
I do not hesitate to make you this frank and honest confes- 
sion, that I have not yet encountered in this State an equal 
extensive tract of land on which I should prefer to end my 
course, if joined by a few respectable families, in the vicinity 
of a tolerable settlement, of which, if my wealth was equal 
to its acquisition, I should, in preference to all which I have 
yet seen, desire to secure its possession. 

All the informations which T have been able to collect, arc 



128 

in unison with my views, so that here about shall be the 
happy limit of our wanderings, under God's blessing. Several 
families have engaged to move thither if I can procure them 
lands at a moderate price. Give now once more a proof of 
that undaunted courage, soofteu tried and found adequate to 
the task you manly engaged in. Here the execution is 
chiefly in our hands; who could hesitate who crossed the 
Atlantic not for the sake of lucre, but to secure for himself 
and his family an asylum against civil and religious oppres- 
sion ? You do not yet regret this step, and then I advised 
you to follow my example, and so you did. Here I may 
speak with greater confidence. I have been on the spot with- 
out interest — unprejudiced — as our actual residence is cer- 
tainly desirable in several points of view ; there all its 
improvements are of my own creation, not without great 
expenses, not without unrelenting personal exertions; there 
I am first beginning to gather the fruits of my labour, and 
have the well grounded prospect of increasing advantages ; 
there I am surrounded by kind neighbours, and at no great 
distance, by respectable families, who treat us rather as near 
relatives than as strangers, whose good will and kindnesses 
we have earned, and as we flatter ourselves, secured. But 
you, my dear sir, knew too well that I have not yet learned 
to go by halves, that reluctantly I submit to disappointments, 
and ventiue rather a fresh struggle, whatever may be the 
risk, than to give^up a well-digested plan; you know that 
the yet required expensive intended improvements are made 
impossible, though not thro' my own fault, neglect or careless- 
ness, but happy for me, through them in whom 1 placed an 
unbounded confidence. Inform me of your plan and senti- 
ments without disguise. My determination may be mo lined, 

it cannot be shaken. 

Adio. Yours sincerely. 



129 

PARTIAL CATALOGUE OF WORKS OF JUDGE VAN 
DER KEMP, FURNISHED BY MR. H. A. HOMES, STATE 
LIBRARIAN. 

Francis Adrian Van der Kemp, was a Feilow (honorary 
member) of the Amer. Acad, of Arts and Sciences, at Boston, 
instituted in 178."). He is author of the following: 

'' Historie der admissie in de ridderschap van Overyssel, 
van Jr. Johan Derk van der Capelleu, Heer van den Pol, 
Appletern, Altforst, Hageu, etc. Leyden, 1785, pp xxxii, 245, 
8vo." That is, " History of the admission of J. J), van der Ca- 
pellen, Lord of Pol, etc., in the nobility of Overyssel." 

In the advertisements at the end of this work, are four 
other publications of Van der Kemp, viz : 

1. Eleveu Discourses, (in Dutch.) 

2. Five Discourses, (in Dutch.) 

3. Het gedrag van Israel, etc. A Discourse. 

4. Five Letters on Military Jurisdiction. 

."> In 1781, h<' published in Dutch, at Leyden, " A collec- 
tion of pieces, relating to the thirteen United States of North 
America," with the motto, " Do not tread on me," under the 
pseudonym of Junius Brutus. 

6. And another : " Papers on Compulsory Service in 
Overyssel.'' 

The following was not printed in America but in Amster- 
dam : 

"Lofrede op George Washington," etc, 
P 



130 

Translation : "Eulogy on George Washington, at Oldenbarn- 
eveld, Feb. 22, 1800, in Oneida District, N. Y. Spoken in 
English, by F. A. v. <1 Kemp. Amsterdam, 1800, pp, 
30, 8vo." 

He sent a copy to a friend, who translated and printed it. 
We have this in the Library. 

The copy of his Oration, in the Library, March 11, 1814, 
at Utica, on the Emancipation of the Dutch, hears H. Bleeck- 
er's name and " from his friend, A. G. Mappa." 



MR. TRACY'S NARRATIVE OF HUGH WHITES GRAND 
CHILD, AS RELATED IN HIS SECOND LECTURE BEFORE 
THE YOUNG MEN'S ASSOCIATION OF UTICA, IN 1838, 
UPON EVENTS CONNECTED WITH THE EARLY HTS 
TORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY. 

" At this period [17<85] the Indian title had not been extin- 
guished to any portion of the country westward of the line of 
property running from a point near the northwest corner of 
the town of Bridgewater, northwesterly to a point on Wood 
creek four or live miles west of Rome, and forming the west- 
ern boundary of Coxe's Patent, as laid down on the maps of 
the county. Most of the Oneidas, it was known, had, dining 
the war just terminated, maintained their professions of 
friendship for the Americans in a consistent and honorable 
manner. Put the fact was well understood that their con- 
federate tribes in the Six Nations, still felt the smart of the 
blow inflicted upon them five years before, in the expedition 
made iuto their country by the army of Gen. Sullivan, and 
secretly desired an opportunity to take vengeance upon the 
countrymen of those who then chastised them. This rendered 



131 

his (Mr. White's) position that of a frontier settler, and re 
quired of him the exercise of much prudence and sagacity in 
his intercourse with his neighbors. He soon acquired their 
good will, and had the good fortune to inspire them with very 
exalted ideas (if his character and prowess. For many years 
after his arrival at Whitestown, quite a number <>f the 
Oneidas resided at Oriskany, and an Indian clearing of ovei 
two hundred acres, now forming a part- of the farms know n as 
the Green farms, had been found there long anterior to the 
Revolutionary War. 

"His intercourse with this little settlement was marked by 
an incident which illustrates the feeling that was entertained 
for him by its inhabitants. An old chief named Han Yerry, 
wdio, during the war, had acted with the royal party, and 
now resided at Oriskany in a log wigwam, which stood on 
this side of the creek, just back of the house, until recently 
occupied by Mr. Charles Green, one day called at Judge 
W T hite's with his wnfe and a mulatto woman who belonged to 
him, and who acted as his interpreter. After conversing 
with him a little while, the Indian asked him, Arc yon my 
friend ? Yes, said he. Well, then, said the Indian, do you 
believe I am } 7 onr friend ? Yes, Han Yerry, replied he, I be- 
lieve you are. The Indian then rejoined, Well, if you are my 
friend, and you believe lam your friend, I will tell you what 
I want, and then I shall know 7 whether yon speak tine words. 
What is it that you want, said Mr. White. The Indian then 
pointed to a little grandchild, the daughter of one of his sons 
between two and three years old, and said, My squaw wants 
to take this pappoose home with us to stay one night and 
bring her home to-morrow; if you are my friend, yon will 
now show me. The feelings of the grandfather at once 
uprose in his bosom, and the child's mother started with 



132 

horror and alarm at the thought of entrusting her darling 
prattler with the rude tenants of the forest. The question 
was full of interest. On the one hand, the necessity of plac- 
ing unlimited confidence in the savage, and entrusting the 
IHV and the welfare of his grandchild, with him; on the 
other, the certain enmity of a man of influence and couse 
quence in his nation, and one who hail been the open enemy 
of his countrymen in their recent struggle. But he made 
the decision with a sagacity that showed that lie properly 
estimated the character of the person he was dealing with 
He believed that by placing implicit confidence in him, he 
should command the sense of honor which seems peculiar to 
the uncontaminated Indian. He told him to take the child, 
and as the mother, scarcely suffering it to be parted from her, 
relinquished it into the hands of the old man's wife, he 
soothed her fears with his assurances of confidence in their 
promises. That night, however, was a long one, and during 
the whole of the next morning many and often were the 
anxious glances cast up the pathway leading from Oriskan\ 
if possible, to discover the Indians and their little charge 
upon their return to its home. But no Indianscame in sight 
It at length became high noon ; all a mother's fears were 
aroused : she could scarcely be restrained from rushing in 
pursuit of her loved one. But her father represented to her 
the gross indignity which a suspicion of their intentions 
would arouse in the breast of the chief; and half frantic 
though she was, she was restrained. The afternoon slowly 
wore away, and still nothing was seen of the child. The 
sun had nearly reached the horizon, and the mother's heart 
had swollen be3 r ond further endurance, when the forms of 
the friendly chief and his wife, bearing upon her shoulders 
their little visitor, greeted its mother's vision. 



133 

" If there is a mother present who hears my tale, she can 
tell more perfectly than lean describe that mother's feelings, 
as she clasped the little one once more to her bosom ami fell 
its warm heart pulsate to her own. The dress which the 
child had worn from home had been removed, and in its place 
its Indian friends had substituted a complete suit of Indian 
garments, so as to completely metamorphose it into a little 
squaw. The sequel of this adventure was the establishment 
of a most anient attachment and regard on the part of the 
Indian and his friends for the white settlers. The child, now 
Mrs. Eells of Missouri, the widow of the late Nathaniel 
Eells of Whitesboro, remembers some incidents occurring on 
the night of her sta}^ in the wigwam and the kindness of her 
Indian hostess." 



EXTRACT FROM MR, WILLIAM TRACY'S FIRST LECTURE, 
DELIVERED BEFORE THE YOUNG MEN'S ASSOCIA- 
TION OF UTICA, IN 1838. ON MEN AND EVENTS CON 
NECTED WITH THE EARLY r HISTORY OF ONEIDA. 

Mr Tracy says of .lames Dean: "Another name distin- 
guished in the history of Oneida county, and occupying no 
obscure place in the catalogue of American patriots, is that 
of the late James Dean. A native of New England, and the 
child of religions parents, at the age of eleven years, at the 
solicitation ot a connection of ids father's family, who, as a 
clergyman, had been engaged in the business of Indian Mis- 
sions, his parents, like the mother of Samuel, devoted him to 
the service of the Temple, as a herald of the cross, to the sons 
of the forest. In order to prepare their child for the pecul 
iar duties he would be called upon to perform, he was sent in 
his early youth to become acquainted with the Indian Ian- 



134 

guage, habits an<l manners, and to grow up in contact with 
those among whom they intended his life should be spent 
At this time a branch of the Oneidas resided at a settlement 
called Onaquaga, situated on the Susquehanna, and to 
this [dace young Dean was sent, to hecome a denizen of the 
forest. A missionary occasionally visited the post, and to 
him the early education of the subject of our notice, in the 
aits and letters of civilized life, was entrusted, while he was 
acquiring with every day's growth, the accomplishments 
which go to make up the thoroughbred native of the wilder- 
derness." 

He entered Darmouth College, and previous to his gradua- 
tion, accompanied the Rev. Sylvanus Ripley, on a mission to 
the Indians on the Bay of Fundy. * * " At the 

period when the first Continental Congress was assembled at 
Philadelphia, he was chosen as a suitable person to ascertain 
the feelings of the Indians in New York and Canada, and 
the part they would take in the event of a war with the 
mother country." * * * "At the close of the war, the 
Oneidas granted him a tract of land, two miles square, lying 
on Wood creek, west of Rome, to which he removed 
in 17<S4, and commenced its improvement. He here con- 
tinued two years, when he effected an exchange with the 
nation for the tract of land in Westmoreland known as 
Dean's Patent, and removed to his late residence upon it in 
1786, where he continued to reside until his death. * * * 
A portion of the land is held by his family at the present 
day. 

" Two or three years after the removal of Mr. Dean from 
Wood creek to the latter place, an incident occurred which 
furnishes a parallel to the rescue of Capt. Smith by Pocahon- 



135 

tas. An institution existed among the Indians for the pun- 
ishment of a murderer, answering in some respects to the 
Jewish code. It became the duty of the nearest relative of 
the deceased to pursue him, and avenge Ins brother's death 
hi case the murder was perpetrated by a member of a differ- 
ent tribe, the offence demanded that the tribe of the mur- 
dered man should require the blood of some member of the 
offending tribe. This was regarded as a necessary atonement, 
and as absolutely requisite to the happiness of the deceased 
in the world of spirits, and a religious duty, and not a mere 
matter of vengeful gratification. At the period to which I 
have referred, an Indian had been murdered by some 
unknown white man, who had escaped. The chiefs there- 
upon held a consultation at Oneida, to determine what was 
to be done. Their deliberations were held in secret ; but 
through the friendship of one of their number, Mr. Dean 
was advised of what was going on. From the office 
he had held and the high standing he maintained 
among the white men, it was urged in the coun- 
cil that he was the proper person to sacrifice in atone- 
ment for the offence committed. The question was, however, 
a difficult one to dispose of He had been adopted into the 
tribe, and was held to be a son; and it was argued by many 
of the chiefs that he could now be no more responsible for 
the offence, than one of the natives of the tribe, and that his 
sacrifice would not furnish the proper atonement. For sev- 
eral days the matter was debated and no decision arrived at, 
and while it was undetermined he continued to hope for the 
best. * * * He reflected upon the propriety of leaving 
the country, but his circumstances, together with the hope of 
a favorable issue of the question in the council, induced him 
to remain. He had erected a small house, which he was 
occupying with his wife and two children, one an infant, and 



136 

it was idle to think of removing them. As the council con- 
tinued its session for several days, his hopes of a favorable 
decision brightened. He kept the matter to himself, not 
mentioning it to his wife, and prepared himself for any emer- 
gency which might befall him. One night he was awoke by 
the sound of the death whoop, at a short distance from the 
house He then, for the first time, told his wife his fears 
that a party were approaching to take his life. He enjoined 
it upon her to keep quiet in the room where they slept, while 
he would receive the council in an adjoining one, and 
endeavor to avert their determination, trusting to Providence 
for the result He met the Indians at the door and seated 
them in the outer room. There were eighteen, aud all chief's 
or head men of the nation 

" The senior chief informed him that they had come to sac- 
rifice him for the murder of their brother, and that he must 
now prepare to die. He replied to them at length, claiming 
he was an adopted son of the Oneidas ; that if was unjust to 
require his blood for the wrong committed by a wicked white 
man ; that he was not ready to die, and that he could not 
leave his wife and children unprovided for. The council 
listened with profound gravity, and when he sat down one of 
the chiefs replied. He rejoined, and used every argument his 
ingenuity could devise in order to reverse their sentence. The 
debate continued a long time, and hope of escape grew faintei 
as it proceeded, and he had nearly abandoned himself to 
the doom, when he heard the pattering of a footstep inside 
the door; all eyes were fixed upon the door; it opened and a 
squaw entered. She was the wife of the senior chief, and at 
the time of Dean's adoption into the tribe, in his boyhood, 
she had taken him as her son. The entrance of a woman 
into a solemn couucil, was by Indian etiquette, at war with 



137 

all propriety. She, however, took her place near the door, and 
all looked on in silence. Then anofchei step was heard, and 
another woman entered the council — the sister of the former 
and the wife of a chief. Then presently another pause, and 
a third entered. Each of the three stood wrapped closely in 
their blankets, but said nothing. At length the presiding 
chief told them to begone and leave the chiefs to go on with 
their business. The wife replied that the council must 
change their determination and let the good white man, their 
friend, her own adopted son, alone. The command to be gone 
was repeated, when each Indian woman threw off her blanket 
and showed a knife in her extended hand, and declared if one 
hair of the white man's head was touched, they would bury 
their knives in their own hearts blood. The strangeness of 
the whole scene overwhelmed with amazement each member 
of the council, and reffardiug the unheard of resolution of the 
women to interfere in the matter, as a sort of manifestation 
of the will of the Great Spirit that the white man's life 
should not be taken, their previous decree was reversed on 
the spot, and the life of the victim preserved. Shortly after 
the erection of the county of Herkimer, in 1791, Mr. Dean 
was appointed Judge of the County Courts, in which office 
he continued until the election of the county of Oneida, 
when he was appointed to a similar station in this county, 
and retained the office by successive appointments, and 
oeaasionally served as a member of the State Legislature, 
until 1813, when he retired from public life," and died in 
September, 1832. 



138 

EXTRACT FROM THE MEMOIRS OF THE MOTHER AND 
WIFE OF WASHINGTON, BY MARGARET C. CONKLING, 
PUBLISHED IN 1850. 

Speaking of the economy practiced by General Washing- 
ton's wife during the war, the author says : " She immediately 
established a domestic system thoroughly adapted to the 
exigencies of the times, and eminently calculated as an 
example most beneficially to influence others. Her dress, 
always remarkable for its simplicity, was soon composed 
almost entirely of home-made materials, as was the clothing 
of her numerous domestics." 

We have her own authority for the fact that " she had a 
great deal of domestic cloth made in her house," and that 
" sixteen spinning-wheels were kept in constant operation " at 
Muii nt: Vernon. On one occasion, when conversing with some 
friends upon this and similar topics, she gave the best proof 
ot her success in domestic manufactures by the exhibition of 
two of her dresses, which were composed of cotton, striped 
with silk, and entirely home-made. The silk stripes in the 
fabric were woven "from the ravelings of brown silk stock- 
ings and old crimson damask chair covers."' 

When Washington arrived at New York to assume his 
duties as first President of the United States, he was attired 
in a complete suit of homespun cloth. 



LETTER FROM MR, JOHN W. DOUGLAS 

Trenton, N. Y., Aug. 21, LS7C 

Dear Sir : I return the printed slip you gave me, with 
some corrections made in pencil on the margin. .My grand- 
father's arrival in this country I make in L766,in place of 1758. 



139 

The reference to his correspondence with Washington and 
others [ have erased. There may be such among his descend 
ants in Westfield, Mass., but 1 have never seen it. I have, 
however, in my possession, a copy of Lt. (Jen. Burgoyne's 
" Instructions" to Lt. Col. Baum in reference to his expedi- 
tion to Bennington, dated August 9, 1777, at Headquarters, 
and also of a letter dated " near Saratoga, 14 Aug., 1777,' by 
Gen. Burgoyne to Baum, which copies were made by my 
grandfather at Stillwater, after the retreat from Saratoga of 
the American forces, from the original MSS. taken from Col. 
Baum after his death at Bennington, and brought from there 
by James Wilkinson, A. J). Gen'l, and handed, I suppose, to 
my grandfather. 

My father's regiment to Sacketts Harbor was commanded 
by Col. Hix, (Thomas Hix, I believe.) After Douglas & Hillings 
dissolved partnership in 1834, the new firms were Douglas 
& Son and Billings & Son, John N. Billings going in with 
his father. 

A meeting of the inhabitants of Oldenbarneveld for estab- 
lishing a religious society was held September I!), 1S(>:>. At 
an adjourned meeting in October, the name of " The United 
Protestant Religious Society" was adopted — "incorporated 
in 1804- under a general law." Of the three trustees first 
chosen, two were Calvinists and one Unitarian. Mr. Fish 
(Trinitarian) was the first, settled minister, and remained 
several years. Rev. John Sherman, coming on lure to visit 
his brother-in-law, Joshua Storrs, preached several times 
On returning to Connecticut, lie received a call from said 
society, written by Judge Van der Kemp, and dated August 
11, 180;3. Mr. Sherman accepted the call Februar} 18, L806. 
A church called the " Reformed Christian Church " — 



140 

present Unitarian church of Trenton — was organized March 
8, 1806, of fifteen members, viz, 9 Hollanders and 6 natives 
of Connecticut, including Mr. Sherman. Two elders were 
chosen and two deacons. Mr. Sherman was installed March 
9th, the next day. Judge Van der Kemp delivering a Lecture 
in the morning, and Mr. Sherman preaching the installation 
sermon in the afternoon. The doctrines embodied in the 
( Ihurch creed were so few and general as to receive the assent 
of Socinians and Trinitarians alike. 

Mr. Sherman's connection with the church was terminated 
Match 9, 1810. In October, 1811, he opened an academical 
school in his own house. In the meantime, Rev. I. B. Pierce 
of Rhode Island came on to Utica to visit some kindred of 
his, and learning that Rev. John Sherman, of whose fame as a 
religious controversialist he had heard and formed a favorable 
opinion of, was living thirteen miles north through the woods, 
he decided to go out to Trenton and see the man. Being invited 
to remain over Sunday and preach, he accepted the invita- 
tion, and soon after received a call from the society and 
became its permanent pastor. 

1 thought the above statement about theorigin, &c, of the 
Unitarian church might interest you 

Very truly, yours, 

Jno. F. Seymour, Esq John W Douglas. 



STATEMENT OF MR. WARREN C. ROWLEY. 

Mr. Pomroy Jones, in his Annals of < meida < !ounty, says, in 
relation to the south portion of the town of Trenton : 'The 
first settlers were Col. Thomas Hicks, John Garrett and his 
two sons, Chenev and Peter, Edward Hughes and Hugh 



141 

Thomas." With Hughes and Thomas should be included the 
names, Ephraim Perkins, John Curry, his two sons, Elias 
and Isaac. Owen Morris, Lemuel Barrows, Jedediah Brown 
ell, Lucas Younglove and James B'rancis. From good 
authority I learn that these persons settled in about the fol 
lowing oider: John Garrett, Chene} and Peter, and Col. 
Hicks, about 17!)'2; Hugh Thomas about 17l>7 ; Perkins, 
Curry, Morris, Barrows, Browned, Hughes, Younglove, Fran- 
cis, from bS(K) to 1810, in about the order in winch their 
names occur. 

John Garrett was a revolutionary soldier, born in Brant 
ford, Connecticut. Hicks came from Rhode Island. The 
latter, with Cheney and Peter Garrett, came to Utiea about 
the same time ; they entered into partnership as builders 
(The articles of co-partnership are said to have been quite a 
uovelty, and I think they are now in possession of .1. P 
Garrett of South Trenton.) The first work which they did. 
I think, was building the store of John Post, on the corner 
ol Whitesboro and Genesee streets ; this was in 1791. They 
also built a small house on the south side of Whitesboro 
street, near the corner of Charles street; this house is still 
standing, and is conspicuous as being cornerwise towards the 
street and somewhat encroaching on the sidewalk. The 
Garretts very soon induced their father to move to tins section 
and all, with Hicks, went to South Trenton. John Garrett 
bought of the Holland Land Co., 10+ acres lying north of and 
adjoining the Nine Mile creek, for which he paid $4 per 
acre; here he erected a log house. Hicks bought of Holland 
Laud Company 200 acres about one half mile north of ( rarrel t 
paid $4| per acre ; he built, a log house. A few years later 
he built a frame house, which is still standing Hicks subse- 
quently built and kept a hotel in Trenton, about where Dr. 



142 

Guiteau's office now stands. Being an admirer of Cincinnatus, 
he named it the Cincinnatus House, ;ind had a large sign 
made on which was painted a portrait of the Roman patriot. 
It is said the Cincinnati creek derived its name in this 
manner.* 

After getting their father settled in South Trenton, Cheney 
and Peter Garrett came to Uticaagain, and fora considerable 
time winked at their trade. The only house that I know of 
as having been built by them at this time, was a house on 
Genesee hill, still standing, as part of the buildings now 
occupied byC. P. Davis. About 1802 they returned to South 
Trenton, Cheney settling down on Ids father's place, where 
he built a frame house, (a hotel;) the, building is still stand 
ing and is occupied 1>3 t his son, John P. Garrett. Peter 
bought a farm and built a frame house about three-fourths 
mile south from South Trenton. The house still stands, occu- 
pied by his son, Jedediah. 

John Curry emigrated from Scotland about 1705. He 
married in Schenectady, Cornelia Post, sister of John Post. 
Settled in Balston, Saratoga county, where seven children 
were born. In 1795, Isaac, then 10 years of age, came to 
Utica and was employed by his uncle, John Post, as clerk in 
his store; here he remained three or four years. Being de- 
lighted with this section, he induced his lather to move here , 
they settled in South Trenton about 1800 ; purchased 100 
acres of the Holland Land Co. at $5 per acre, situated south of 
and adjoining the Nine Mile creek ; here he built a log house. 
About 1807 Isaac built a hotel about one mile south of South 
Trenton, on what was known afterwards as the Joy place ; 

* This is iinot her sample of the misnomers with which this country is 
afflicted. 



143 

he remained here but a short time, when he returned to his 
father's farm. My grandfather was deeply interested in 
r< ligious matters ; he was active in building, and was a liberal 
contributor to the Presbyterian < Jhurcb at Trenton ; was also 
one of the foremost in building the Union Church at South 
Trenton, and during bis whole life the cause of religion found 
in Major Curry (as he was familiarly called) a valuable 
advocate. 

As regards Perkins, Thomas, Morris, Barrows and Brownell, 
I cannot learn much. I bear, however, on good authority, 
that Perkins bought a large tract of land about one mile 
northwest from South Trenton. This was then regarded as 
the largest farm in this locality. A good portion of if now 
belongs to Henry Rhodes. 

Lucas Younglove, of En<--lish descent, was born I7<S~> in 
New Jersey. Settled at < iambridge, Washington county, N. Y. 
He received from Gov. George Clinton, the commission ol 
Paymaster in the " Regiment of Militia of the County of 
Albany," of which regiment his father, John Younglove, was 
Lieutenant ( Jolonel commanding. John was also Colonel of a 
regiment during the Revolution. While on a furlough at his 
ii ime in Cambridge, his house was attacked by tories, who 
demanded of him to open the door and surrender. On his 
refusal, they fired at him through the door and severely 
wounded him, then clubbed him with their muskets and left 
him as they supposed, dead ; he recovered, however, and in 
due time returned to his regiment. Lucas was a strong 
Presbyterian of the old school; he was one of the first elders 
of the church at Cambridge, of which Mr. Prime (father of 
tie editor New York Observer) was then minister. He re- 
moved to South Trenton about 1808; settled in what is 



144 

known as the Miller neighborhood. He was many years 
elder in the church at Trenton, and later years, deacon. Pre- 
vious to the Trenton church having been built, he was in the 
habit of going on horseback with his wife to Holland Patent, 
isix miles,) and scarcely ever missed a.service. He was an 
enthusiast on the subject of temperance, and on this point 
Rev. Mr. Brace tells me that it was frequently the case that 
Mr. Y. and himself met at the bookstore of Hastings & Tracy 
in Utica. On one occasion, about the year 1825, Mr. Y. sug- 
gested that they three make an agreement to abstain from 
all intoxicating drinks, to which the others agreed. Mr. 
Brace said, " Deacon, draw up the agreement and sign it, and 
Hastings and I will add our names." Hastings accordingly 
furnished the book, (a little passbook,) the deacon wrote the 
pledge and the three signed their names. Subsequently many 
other names from all parts of the county were added to it. 
Mr. Brace says he verily believes this to have been the first 
temperance pledge ever drawn up. Mr. B. also credits the 
deacon with having originated (or at least introduced in these 
parts) the idea of setting apart a small patch of ground to 
lie planted for missionary purposes, which he called the 
Lords Land ;" this was a very common thing with farmers, 
and many appropriated from their stock a cow or a pig, 
winch were fattened ami slaughtered, the proceeds to be de- 
voted to the same purpose. 

-lames Francis emigrated from South Wales. Settled in 
South Trenton about 1806; bought a small farm about one- 
half mile N. E. of the present village, on which he built a log 
house. Edward Hughes, born in Danbighshire, North 
Wales, came to America about the year 1802 ; three months 
on passage. Landed in Baltimore. Lived in Philadelphia 
about three years ; moved thence to Whitestowu and lived one 



145 

year; thence to South Trenton, where lie bought of Holland 
Land Co. fifty acres, at $8 per acre; this laud was situated 
about one-fourth mile south of the present village. 

Mrs. Loyd, daughter of Hughes, is still living, aged about 
eighty. She relates with great interest her early experience 
in this new country. She says we all went to Trenton 
behind a yoke of oxen. When my father bought the farm 
there was not sufficient cleared ground, on which to erect a 
log house, but the neighbors turned out and in twenty-four 
hours they had the trees down and the house up. She says 
there was no store, no mill, no physician nearer than Trenton 
village. We usually traded in Utica, going three or four 
times a year, at which times we laid in stock of necessaries. 
During the winter season our roads were so bad that we 
were completely hemmed in. Our mails were delivered very 
irregularly by the postman, who came through from Utica 
on horseback. Each farmer usually kept one or two horses, 
with which to go to church, to mill, &c. ; but heavy work 
was done with oxen. I have frequently seen my father draw 
in hay on a sled and with two yoke of oxen, and have seen 
hay drawn in on tree tops. We were frequently anno} T ed 
with soldiers, who were marching to the northern frontier , 
especially so with those who were said to be regulars, from 
camp at Greenbush. They usually camped for the night on 
the banks of the Nine Mile creek ; but anno3'ed the settlers 
greatly by insulting the ladies, shooting dogs, stealing our 
chickens, &c. She says, my father had a peculiar faculty of 
gaining their good will, by allowing them to sleep in his 
barn, and extending other little civilities; he therefore did 
not suffer quite as much as some of his neighbors. 

In reeard to Indians, I learn that there were none settled 
in this section at this date. Large companies, however, of 
R 



146 

the Oneida tribe frequently encamped on the banks of the 
Nine Mile creek, on my grandfather's land, where thej T 
would remain for several weeks, industriously engaged in 
making baskets, brooms and fancy articles ; tinally, when 
they had succeeded in making sale of their goods, they would 
expend a large amount of their earnings for whisky, with 
which the}' would get drunk, and finally break up camp in a 
general row and fight, often inflicting fearful wounds upon 
each other with their knives, clubs, &c. My uncle (Orrin 
Curry) says[that in the year 1830, Col. Daniel Schermerhorn 
erected a hotel, soon after which he received a commission as 
postmaster, and he, (0. C.) had the honor of being his first dep- 
uty. Previous to this date, we were obliged to go to Trenton 
for mail. 

The first merchant of South Trenton was my father, War- 
ren I). Rowley, a native of Litchfield Co., Connecticut. He 
erected a building and engaged in the mercantile business in 
the year 1833. About the year 1800 a log house was erected 
on the hill, on Cheney Garret's laud, in which place religious 
services were held on the Sabbath, and dining the week it 
was used as a school house. The pulpit was usually supplied 
by missionaries, although at times they had resident minis- 
ters. During times of great religious excitement, for want of 
more room than the house afforded, meetings were held in 
Cheney (Janet's log barn. Several of the older surviving 
inhabitants allude with great interest to the time when they 
sat on the hay-mow or the " big beam" and listened to the 
service. In due course of time, a frame house was substitu- 
ted for the log one, and still later the capacity of this was 
greatly increased. After the Union Church was built, the old 
school meeting house was devoted exclusively to school pur- 
poses, and still stands. Jones in his annals of Oneida County, 



147 

refers to the excellent district school at South Trenton, and 
says that it was frequently termed " The Model School." I 
think there is little doubt that it Avas the best district school 
in the country. I could give the names of many men and 
women, now holding prominent positions in our institutions 
of learning, who received their education, and others who 
have taught, at this school. Prof. James S. Gardner, of 
Whitestown Seminary, left an unfinished term here about 
twenty-five years since, to accept the position which he still 
holds. Miss White, the present preceptress at Whitestown 
Seminary also taught here twenty years ago. 

In this connection I feel that a few words should lie said 
for my father, for although all the inhabitants were interested 
to a great degree in school matters, still I think that to 
him, more than any other one, were they indebted for the 
high standard to which this as a district school attained, and 
I know that hundreds of teachers, parents and children will 
bear me witness to this fact. With an excellent education, 
a long experience in teaching, and now with a young family 
grown. g up, he readily realized the necessity of bringing this 
home school to such a degree of perfection as to obviate the 
necessity of parents sending their sons and daughters from 
home to be educated ; with this idea in view, he devoted his 
best energies to the work. 

Thoroughly competent teachers were always employed in 
each department. An excellent library of several hundred 
volumes was provided; all the modern appliances requisite 
for teaching were at the disposal of teachers; seldom less 
than <me hundred pupils were in attendance. At this time, 
District N>». f covered an area of about six square miles, and 
was three miles from north to south. A few years after the 



148 

death of" ray father, (which occurred in the year 1854,) the 
district was divided, and to-day there are two schools where 
before there was but one. Whether they are as good as 
" The Model School," this is not the place to discuss. 



COPY OF BILL OF SALE OF SLAVE PATIENCE." 

Know all men by these presents, that I, Pascal C. J. De 

Angelis, of the town of Trenton, in the county of Oneida, 

for and in consideration of the sum of seventy-live pounds, 

current money of the State of New York, to me in hand 

paid by William Miller of the town and county aforesaid, at 

and before the sealing and delivery of these presents, the 

receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge, have bargained, 

sold, released and confirmed, and by these presents do bargain, 

sell, release and confirm unto the said W. Miller, a negro girl 

slave named Patience, of the age of twenty-four years, to 

have and to hold the said negro girl slave unto the said W. 

Miller, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns forever, 

so that neither I, the said Pascal C. J. De Angelis, nor any 

other for me, or in my name, has any right or title or interest 

in the said slave, to claim or demand at any time hereafter. 

And I, the said Pascal C J. De Angelis, for myself, executors 

and administrators, the said negro girl slave unto the said W. 

Miller, his executors, administrators and assigns, against all 

and all manner of person or persons whatsoever, shall and 

will warrant and forever defend by these presents. And 1. 

the said Pascal C. J. De Angelis, for myself, my executors and 

administrators, do covenant that the said negro girl slave is 

of good constitution and of sound health. And of which the 

said slave, 1, the said Pascal C. J. De Angelis, have put the 



149 

said W. Miller in full possession at the sealing and delivery 
hereof. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set ray hand and 
affixed my seal at Trenton, this 10th day of October, in the 
year of our Lord 1804. 

Pascal C. J. De Angells. [l. s.] 



Signed, sealed and delivered 
in presence of 

Sally Mulbert. 



! 



DEC 30 1908 



